Guardian Duties and Powers in Idaho

Part of my Idaho Guardianship & Conservatorship Overview.

By Ronald W. Brilliant, Attorney at Law · Licensed in Idaho, Nevada & California · Last reviewed: September 2026 against the Idaho Code as posted by the Idaho Legislature (July 1, 2026)

In This TopicIdaho Guardianship & ConservatorshipTopic 3 of 8: Guardian Duties

In Idaho, a guardian is appointed to look after a person, while a conservator manages property (Idaho Code §§ 15-5-312(1), 15-5-401). A person for whom a guardian has been appointed is called a ward (Idaho Code § 15-5-101(d)). A guardian may never exercise any of the powers of a conservator (Idaho Code § 15-5-312(1)(d)).

This page explains what a guardian of an incapacitated person can and must do, how the court oversees the guardian, and how a guardianship ends. An incapacitated person is someone impaired (for a reason other than being a minor) to the extent that he or she lacks sufficient understanding or capacity to make or communicate responsible decisions about his or her person (Idaho Code § 15-5-101(a)). Guardians of minors follow their own statute (Idaho Code § 15-5-209), explained in Guardianship of Minors in Idaho.

The Basic Rule: A Guardian Has a Parent’s Powers

A guardian of an incapacitated person has the powers and responsibilities of a parent who has not been deprived of custody of his or her unemancipated minor child (Idaho Code § 15-5-312(1)). There are two important exceptions. The guardian is not legally obligated to provide for the ward from the guardian’s own funds, and is not liable to third persons for acts of the ward (§ 15-5-312(1)).

The court must use its authority to encourage the development of maximum self-reliance and independence of the incapacitated person (Idaho Code § 15-5-304(a)). It makes orders only to the extent the person’s actual mental and adaptive limitations or other conditions require (§ 15-5-304(a)).

The court may limit a guardian’s powers at the time of appointment or later, which creates a limited guardianship (Idaho Code § 15-5-304(d)). Any limits must be endorsed on the guardian’s letters of guardianship (§ 15-5-304(d)). The specific powers listed below apply except as modified by court order when the guardianship is limited (Idaho Code § 15-5-312(1)).

Specific Powers and Duties

Area	What the Idaho Code says
Custody and residence	Consistent with any court order on detention or commitment of the ward, the guardian is entitled to custody of the ward and may set the ward’s place of abode inside or outside Idaho (§ 15-5-312(1)(a)).
Convicted felons	The guardian must take reasonable measures to ensure that a convicted felon does not reside with, care for or visit the ward without court approval (§ 15-5-312(1)(a)).
Care and education	If entitled to custody, the guardian must provide for the ward’s care, comfort and maintenance and, whenever appropriate, arrange for training and education (§ 15-5-312(1)(b)).
Personal belongings	Regardless of custody, the guardian must take reasonable care of the ward’s clothing, furniture, vehicles and other personal effects (§ 15-5-312(1)(b)).
Other property	The guardian must begin protective proceedings if other property of the ward needs protection (§ 15-5-312(1)(b)).
Medical care	The guardian may give any consents or approvals needed for the ward to receive medical or other professional care, counsel, treatment or service (§ 15-5-312(1)(c)).
Health information	The guardian is automatically entitled to information governed by the federal HIPAA law, and the appointment is deemed to grant release authority (§ 15-5-312(1)(c)).
Conservatorship	If no conservator has been appointed, the guardian may start proceedings to appoint one (§ 15-5-312(1)(d)).
Reports	The guardian must report to the court at least annually on the status of the ward (§ 15-5-312(1)(e)).
Sharing decisions with the ward	The guardian may delegate certain responsibilities for decisions affecting the ward’s well-being to the ward when reasonable under all of the circumstances (§ 15-5-312(3)).

Annual Reports

All guardian reports must be under oath or affirmation and must comply with Idaho Supreme Court rules (Idaho Code § 15-5-312(1)(e)). Those court rules are not part of the Idaho Code and are not described here. A temporary guardian must make reports as the court requires (Idaho Code § 15-5-310(c)(4)).

Keeping Background Information Current

Before an individual is appointed, he or she must submit to and pay for a criminal history and background check and provide a report of his or her civil judgments and bankruptcies (Idaho Code § 15-5-311(5)). After appointment, the guardian must immediately report any change in criminal history, and any material change in that required information, to the visitor, the guardian ad litem, all others entitled to notice under Idaho Code § 15-5-309, and the court (Idaho Code § 15-5-311(7)).

When There Is Also a Conservator

If a conservator has been appointed, the guardian must pay to the conservator all of the ward’s estate the guardian receives beyond what is spent on current expenses for the ward’s support, care, and education (Idaho Code § 15-5-312(1)(f)). The guardian must also account to the conservator for funds spent (§ 15-5-312(1)(f)).

The guardian controls the custody and care of the ward (Idaho Code § 15-5-312(2)). The guardian is entitled to receive reasonable sums for services and for room and board furnished to the ward, as agreed with the conservator, if the amounts are reasonable under the circumstances (§ 15-5-312(2)). The guardian may ask the conservator to pay third persons or institutions from the ward’s estate for the ward’s care and maintenance (§ 15-5-312(2)).

The conservator must consider a guardian’s recommendations about the appropriate standard of support, education and benefit for the protected person (Idaho Code § 15-5-425(a)(1)). For more, see Conservatorship in Idaho and Conservator Duties and Powers in Idaho.

Co-Guardians

Instead of one guardian, the court may appoint no more than two persons as co-guardians (Idaho Code § 15-5-304(c)(1)). It must find that co-guardians will best serve the incapacitated person’s interests and will work together cooperatively (§ 15-5-304(c)(1)).

The court must decide whether the co-guardians may act independently, may act independently but must act jointly in specified matters, or must act jointly (Idaho Code § 15-5-304(c)(3)). That decision must be stated in the order of appointment and in the letters of guardianship (§ 15-5-304(c)(3)).

Delegating Powers by Power of Attorney

A guardian of an incapacitated person may use a properly executed power of attorney to delegate to another person any of the guardian’s powers regarding the ward’s care, custody, or property (Idaho Code § 15-5-104). The delegation may last no more than six (6) months, or no more than twelve (12) months for military personnel serving beyond the territorial limits of the United States (§ 15-5-104).

A guardian cannot delegate the power to consent to marriage or adoption of a ward (Idaho Code § 15-5-104). For general rules on powers of attorney, see Powers of Attorney in Idaho.

Compensation and Expenses

If not otherwise paid, a guardian or temporary guardian appointed in a protective proceeding is entitled to reasonable compensation from the estate for services rendered and expenses incurred (Idaho Code § 15-5-314(1)). This includes services and expenses before the actual appointment that were reasonably related to the proceedings (§ 15-5-314(1)).

Anyone who brings or defends a guardianship proceeding in good faith, whether successful or not, is entitled to receive from the estate necessary expenses and disbursements, including reasonable attorney’s fees (Idaho Code § 15-5-314(1)). If the estate is not enough to cover these amounts, the court may divide them among the parties as it deems reasonable (§ 15-5-314(1)).

Court Oversight

By accepting appointment, a guardian submits personally to the court’s jurisdiction in any proceeding about the guardianship brought by any interested person (Idaho Code § 15-5-305). Notice of a proceeding is delivered to the guardian or mailed by ordinary mail to the guardian’s address in the court records and to the address then known to the petitioner (§ 15-5-305).

The court where the ward resides shares jurisdiction with the appointing court over resignation, removal, accounting, and other guardianship proceedings, including proceedings to limit a guardian’s authority or remove earlier limits (Idaho Code § 15-5-313(a)). If the court where the ward resides is not the court where the guardian’s acceptance of appointment is filed, the court where the later proceeding begins must, in appropriate cases, notify and consult the other Idaho court and then decide whether to keep or transfer the case, whichever may be in the ward’s best interest (§ 15-5-313(b)). If the court where acceptance of appointment is filed is in another state, the Idaho court proceeds in accordance with Chapters 9, 10 and/or 11 of Title 15, as appropriate (§ 15-5-313(b)); those chapters are not covered in this overview. For Idaho’s interstate adult guardianship law (Chapter 13), see Interstate Guardianships in Idaho.

On petition of anyone interested in the ward’s welfare, the court may order a person suspected of concealing, embezzling, or conveying away the ward’s money, goods, or effects to appear, be examined under oath, and be held to account (Idaho Code § 15-5-107).

Temporary Guardian When a Guardian Is Not Performing

When a person is under guardianship, the court may appoint a temporary guardian if it finds substantial evidence that the guardian is not performing the guardian’s duties (Idaho Code § 15-5-310(b)). The court must also find, by a preponderance of the evidence, an emergency that will likely result in immediate and substantial harm to the person’s health, safety or welfare (§ 15-5-310(b)).

The existing guardian’s authority is suspended as long as the temporary guardian has authority (Idaho Code § 15-5-310(b)). The court must hold a hearing before the temporary guardian’s authority expires (§ 15-5-310(b)). A temporary guardian’s authority may not exceed ninety (90) days unless extended for good cause (§ 15-5-310(c)(3)).

Removal and Resignation

On petition of the ward or any person interested in the ward’s welfare, the court may remove a guardian and appoint a successor if that is in the ward’s best interests (Idaho Code § 15-5-307(a)). On the guardian’s own petition, the court may accept the guardian’s resignation and make any other appropriate order (§ 15-5-307(a)).

Before removing a guardian, accepting a resignation, or ordering that a ward’s incapacity has ended, the court follows the same procedures to safeguard the ward’s rights as apply to a petition for appointment (Idaho Code § 15-5-307(c)). The court may send a visitor to the guardian’s residence and to where the ward resides or is detained to observe conditions and report in writing (§ 15-5-307(c)). Upon request, a jury may be summoned to hear factual issues as in other civil cases (§ 15-5-307(d)).

In a proceeding to remove a guardian of an incapacitated person, notice of hearing must be given to the persons listed in Idaho Code § 15-5-309(1). These include the ward and the ward’s spouse (or, if none, adult children, or if none, parents), anyone serving as the ward’s guardian or conservator or having care and custody, and anyone who has filed a request for notice (§ 15-5-309(1)).

When the Guardianship Ends or Changes

A guardianship terminates upon the death of the ward or upon order of the court (Idaho Code § 15-5-318(1)). A guardian’s authority and responsibility also end on the guardian’s death, a determination that the guardian is incapacitated, or the guardian’s removal or resignation (Idaho Code § 15-5-306(1)). Ending the guardianship does not affect the guardian’s liability for prior acts or the obligation to account for the ward’s funds and assets (§ 15-5-306(1)).

A testamentary appointment (one made by will) under an informally probated will terminates if the will is later denied probate in a formal proceeding (Idaho Code § 15-5-306(1)). If a guardian has the right to control the disposition of a deceased person’s remains, or to determine matters not clearly covered in a prearranged funeral plan, under Idaho Code § 54-1142(1), the guardianship continues as that section provides (§ 15-5-306(2)). Section 54-1142 is outside Title 15 and is not described here.

Petitioning to End or Modify a Guardianship

On petition of the ward, the guardian, or another person interested in the ward’s welfare, the court may terminate a guardianship if the ward no longer needs the assistance or protection of a guardian (Idaho Code § 15-5-318(2)). The court may modify the type of appointment or the guardian’s powers if the protection previously granted is now excessive or insufficient, or if the ward’s capacity has changed enough to warrant it (§ 15-5-318(2)).

Except as otherwise ordered for good cause, the court follows the same procedures to safeguard the ward’s rights as apply to a petition for guardianship (Idaho Code § 15-5-318(3)). Once the petitioner presents evidence establishing a prima facie case (evidence that, on its face, supports ending the guardianship), the court shall order termination unless it is proven that continuing the guardianship is in the ward’s best interest (§ 15-5-318(3)).

The order finding incapacity may set a minimum period, not exceeding one (1) year, during which no petition to find that the ward is no longer incapacitated may be filed without special leave (Idaho Code § 15-5-307(b)).

Subject to that limit, the ward or any person interested in the ward’s welfare may petition for an order that the ward is no longer incapacitated, and for removal or resignation of the guardian (Idaho Code § 15-5-307(b)). A request for this order may be made by informal letter to the court or judge (§ 15-5-307(b)). Anyone who knowingly interferes with sending that kind of request to the court or judge may be found guilty of contempt of court (§ 15-5-307(b)).

Key Numbers at a Glance

Rule	Time or limit	Idaho Code
Guardian’s report on the ward’s status	At least annually	§ 15-5-312(1)(e)
Maximum number of co-guardians	Two (2)	§ 15-5-304(c)(1)
Delegation of guardian powers by power of attorney	Up to 6 months (12 months for military personnel serving outside the United States)	§ 15-5-104
Temporary guardian’s authority	Up to 90 days unless extended for good cause	§ 15-5-310(c)(3)
Waiting period before petitioning to end incapacity, if the order sets one	Not more than 1 year, unless special leave is granted	§ 15-5-307(b)

For how a guardian is appointed in the first place, see Guardianship of Adults in Idaho, or return to the Idaho Guardianship & Conservatorship overview.

How I Can Help

I help Idaho guardians understand what the court expects of them, prepare the reports and filings a guardianship requires, and handle petitions to limit, modify, transfer, or end a guardianship. I also represent family members who are concerned about how a guardian is carrying out the role. Request a consultation to discuss your situation.

This page provides general information about Idaho guardianship, conservatorship and powers of attorney, based on the Idaho Code, and is not legal advice. Court rules and case law also affect these matters. Every situation is different; consult an attorney about yours. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship.