Guardianship Petition - Preparation Worksheet - Kentucky

KENTUCKY GUARDIANSHIP PETITION PREPARATION WORKSHEET

Do not file this worksheet. Transfer the verified information to the Kentucky Court of Justice's current AOC-740, Petition to Determine if Disabled, and file the proposed fiduciary's verified AOC-745, Application for Appointment of Fiduciary for Disabled Persons. The forms page listed in the Sources section controls over any form number or revision date stated here.

Adult-disability track only. This worksheet addresses a petition to determine whether a respondent is partially disabled or disabled and to appoint a guardian or conservator. Do not use it as a minor-guardianship petition.

1. STOP-AND-CONFIRM GATES

Current-law transition

KRS 387.540 has one version effective until October 1, 2026, and another effective October 1, 2026. Counsel must use the version effective on the relevant proceeding date and recheck the AOC forms before filing.

2. JURISDICTION AND VENUE

KRS 387.520 gives Kentucky District Courts exclusive jurisdiction over disability determinations, appointment and removal of guardians and conservators, order modifications, and account management and settlement. For a Kentucky resident, venue may lie in the county where the respondent resides, the county of domicile, or—if the respondent is a minor—the county where a parent is domiciled. Interstate cases require a separate jurisdiction analysis.

Respondent's permanent residence: [ADDRESS / COUNTY / SINCE WHEN]

Respondent's domicile, if different: [ADDRESS / COUNTY / FACTS]

Current physical location, if different: [ADDRESS / FACILITY / REASON]

Other states connected to respondent, property, prior orders, or proceedings: [DETAILS]

Venue selected and statutory basis: [COUNTY / KRS 387.520 SUBSECTION / FACTS]

3. PETITIONER AND RESPONDENT

KRS 387.530 permits an interested person or an individual needing guardianship or conservatorship to file the petition.

Petitioner

Legal name: [NAME]

Address / phone / email: [CONTACT]

Relationship or interest: [FACTS]

Attorney, if any: [NAME / ADDRESS / PHONE / EMAIL]

Respondent

Legal name: [NAME]

Date of birth, if known: [DATE]

Citizen or permanent-resident response required by current AOC-740: [ANSWER]

Custodian person or facility, if any: [NAME / ADDRESS]

Current AOC-740 criminal-history questions completed from verified information: [YES / NO / UNKNOWN RESPONSES]

4. DISABILITY ALLEGATIONS AND FUNCTIONAL FACTS

Under KRS 387.510, “disabled” is a legal, function-based standard concerning informed decisions about personal affairs or effective management of financial resources. The inability must be evidenced by acts or occurrences within six months before filing and cannot rest solely on isolated negligence, improvidence, or other behavior.

Do not substitute a diagnosis for functional facts.

Nature and degree of alleged disability: [FACTUAL DESCRIPTION]

Personal-affairs capacity at issue: [HEALTH CARE / FOOD / SHELTER / CLOTHING / HYGIENE / OTHER]

Financial-resource capacity at issue: [INCOME / BENEFITS / PROPERTY / CONTRACTS / OTHER]

5. LESS RESTRICTIVE AND LIMITED RELIEF

KRS 387.500 requires guardianship or conservatorship to be used only as necessary, ordered only to the extent required by actual limitations, and designed to encourage maximum self-reliance and independence. Partial guardianship or conservatorship is the preferred form when some protection is necessary.

Narrowest requested finding and appointment:

☐ Limited guardian for personal affairs

☐ Guardian for personal affairs

☐ Limited conservator for financial resources

☐ Conservator for financial resources

☐ Combined appointment, with each requested power separately identified

Requested powers and corresponding functional evidence: [ATTACH SCHEDULE]

6. FINANCIAL RESOURCES

KRS 387.530 requires a description and approximate value of the respondent's financial resources, including known government benefits, insurance entitlements, and anticipated yearly income.

7. REQUIRED PEOPLE AND EXISTING APPOINTMENTS

Next of kin

Existing decision-maker designations

KRS 387.530 requires the petition to identify any known attorney-in-fact under a durable power of attorney and any health-care surrogate appointed under an advance directive.

8. PROPOSED FIDUCIARY AND AOC-745

KRS 387.530 requires a verified application from each person or entity seeking appointment. KRS 387.600 directs the court to give due consideration to the respondent's preference, including a written power-of-attorney designation, and to appoint the best-qualified willing person or entity. KRS 387.605 identifies kinship, education and business experience, financial capability, and ability to perform statutory duties as preference factors.

Applicant's legal name and contact information: [DETAILS]

Requested role: [GUARDIAN / LIMITED GUARDIAN / CONSERVATOR / LIMITED CONSERVATOR]

Principal or standby fiduciary: [ROLE]

Relationship to respondent: [RELATIONSHIP]

Qualifications addressing KRS 387.605: [FACTS]

Respondent's stated preference and how obtained: [FACTS]

Conflicts, service-provider status, creditor interests, or other suitability concerns: [FACTS]

Surety information requested on current AOC-745, if applicable: [DETAILS / TO BE SET BY COURT]

A bond is security; this worksheet does not characterize it as a liability cap, indemnity, or limit on fiduciary responsibility.

9. INTERDISCIPLINARY EVALUATION REPORT

Under the version of KRS 387.540 effective on August 10, 2026, the report must be compiled by at least three individuals, including: (1) a physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or physician assistant; (2) a licensed or certified psychologist; and (3) a licensed or certified social worker or a qualifying Cabinet employee. At least one participant must have the disability-specific or functional-skills knowledge the statute describes. Additional specialty requirements apply when mental illness or intellectual disability is alleged.

Do not label AOC-748 as the evaluation report. Current AOC-748 is an Order for Emergency Appointment of Fiduciary. Current AOC-750 is the court's Order for Examination. The evaluation report itself must satisfy KRS 387.540 and current court instructions.

Report-content checklist under KRS 387.540:

• ☐ Nature and extent of any disability
• ☐ Current social, intellectual, physical, educational, adaptive-behavior, and social-skills evaluations
• ☐ Opinion on need, type, duration, and reasons
• ☐ If limited relief is recommended, exact rights, powers, and duties
• ☐ Current services and available alternatives
• ☐ Treatment or rehabilitation and living-arrangement recommendation
• ☐ Medications, dosage, and described impact
• ☐ Hearing-attendance risk opinion
• ☐ Names and addresses of participants and any dissent

Unless the statute's facility-filed-report provision applies, the court orders appropriate evaluations. The report must be filed and mailed to counsel at least ten days before the hearing; the respondent may respond no later than five days before the hearing.

10. HEARING, NOTICE, COUNSEL, AND JURY

Under KRS 387.550, the court sets the hearing within 30 days after filing when the petition is accompanied by the interdisciplinary report and within 60 days when it is not, subject to a cause-based extension. The clerk gives at least 14 days' notice to counsel for both parties, everyone named in the petition, and the proposed appointee.

Under KRS 387.560, unless counsel has appeared for the respondent, the court appoints respondent's counsel within one week after the disability petition is filed. The county attorney assists the petitioner, represents the Commonwealth's interest, and assists the court through evidence.

Jury-trial warning

KRS 387.570 provides that the disability hearing shall be a jury trial unless all of these conditions are met:

1. The present respondent, respondent's counsel, and the Commonwealth's attorney agree to a bench trial;
2. No interested person or entity objects; and
3. The interdisciplinary report is unanimous that the respondent is partially disabled or disabled, the court reviews it, and the court finds no cause to require a jury.

The Commonwealth bears the burden to prove partial disability or disability by clear and convincing evidence. The respondent has rights to present evidence, confront and cross-examine witnesses, attend subject to the statutory exceptions, and request a closed hearing.

AOC-740 trial selection after counsel review: ☐ Jury trial ☐ Bench trial requested only if every KRS 387.570(7) condition can be met

Report filed with petition: ☐ Yes ☐ No

Projected statutory setting track: [30-DAY / 60-DAY / EXTENSION REQUESTED]

Counsel appeared or appointment requested: [DETAILS]

11. FINDINGS, RIGHTS, AND ORDER SCHEDULE

KRS 387.580 assigns the disability or partial-disability decision to the court or jury and requires separate findings concerning personal affairs and financial resources. If disability or partial disability is found, the court—not the jury—determines the appointment, specific legal disabilities, retained voting right, limited fiduciary powers and duties, standby appointment, and duration.

KRS 387.590 requires the order to specify the appointment type, appointee information, any standby fiduciary, specific disabilities and corresponding limited powers, and duration. A limited appointment cannot exceed five years. A ward retains all legal and civil rights except those designated as disabilities by court order or specifically granted to a limited fiduciary; loss of voting rights requires a separate, specific on-record finding.

12. AOC-740 / AOC-745 FINAL ASSEMBLY

• ☐ Every AOC-740 field answered from a verified source
• ☐ Petition facts limited to recent functional evidence and not diagnosis alone
• ☐ Financial resources, benefits, insurance, and yearly income included
• ☐ Next of kin, custodian, petitioner, counsel, attorney-in-fact, and surrogate information complete
• ☐ Current AOC-745 completed, verified, and attached for each proposed appointee
• ☐ Requested powers schedule is no broader than the proven functional need
• ☐ Current evaluation-report requirements and deadlines calendared
• ☐ Jury or bench request reviewed under KRS 387.570(7)
• ☐ Personal identifiers redacted under the current form and court rules
• ☐ Filing fee, service, copies, local cover sheets, and county practice confirmed with the clerk and counsel

CURRENT OFFICIAL SOURCES VERIFIED AUGUST 10, 2026

• Kentucky Court of Justice legal-forms index
• AOC-740, Petition to Determine if Disabled
• AOC-745, Application for Appointment of Fiduciary for Disabled Persons
• AOC-748, Order for Emergency Appointment of Fiduciary
• AOC-750, Order for Examination
• KRS 387.500, 387.510, 387.520, and 387.530
• KRS 387.540 effective until October 1, 2026 and version effective October 1, 2026
• KRS 387.550, 387.560, 387.570, and 387.580
• KRS 387.590, 387.600, and 387.605

The bill-index amendment screen found 2026 proposals referencing these sections, but their latest actions did not show enactment. The official statute server separately publishes the enacted KRS 387.540 version effective October 1, 2026, which is linked above.

END OF WORKSHEET