Contested Guardianship and Removal

Yes. Section 475.075.2, RSMo requires notice to the spouse, parents, adult children, any current fiduciary, the person proposed to serve, anyone holding fiduciary power over the respondent’s finances, whoever has custody, and co-tenants or co-depositors — so as an adult child you are entitled to notice and to be heard. Understand what the real fight is, though. If your mother genuinely lacks capacity, opposing the appointment is different from opposing your sibling. On who serves, § 475.050.3 is decisive if your mother nominated someone in a durable power of attorney or a witnessed writing — the court “shall” appoint that person except for good cause. Absent a nomination, close relatives sit in one priority group and the court chooses on suitability, which turns on facts: who has provided care, who lives nearby, who has a conflict, and what the background screening shows. Note also that the respondent gets her own court-appointed attorney regardless, and § 475.075.5 forbids the petitioner from nominating that attorney.

By verified written complaint, and the grounds are broad. Section 475.110.1, RSMo provides that a guardian or conservator “may…be removed on the same grounds as is provided in section 473.140.” Section 473.140 lists them: becoming mentally incapacitated, conviction of a felony or other infamous crime, being “in any manner incapable or unsuitable to execute the trust reposed in him,” failing “to discharge his official duties,” wasting or mismanaging the estate, acting so as to endanger a co-fiduciary, or failing to answer a citation to make settlement. The court may act on its own motion, or “upon complaint in writing made by any person interested supported by affidavit,” after notice to the fiduciary and their attorney. Separately, § 475.082.5 lets the court remove a fiduciary on review or on motion of any interested person including the ward, and § 475.055.5 requires the court to remove a social service agency guardian on a qualified relative’s petition even without evidence of misfeasance.

Only within a narrow exception, and this changed in 2018. Section 475.361.1(3), RSMo gives every ward the right to “communicate freely and privately with family, friends, and other persons other than the guardian; except that, such right may be limited by the guardian for good cause but only as necessary to ensure the ward’s condition, safety, habilitation, or sound therapeutic treatment.” A guardian cutting off a sibling over a family grievance is not within that exception. The same section gives the ward the right to a guardian who is “reasonably accessible” and the right to bring an action alleging that the ward “is being unjustly denied a right or privilege granted by this chapter.” The routes are § 475.083.4 (a petition, which from the ward may be an informal letter), § 475.082.5 (motion by any interested person), or a removal complaint under § 473.140 on the ground that the guardian is unsuitable. Document the refusals in writing as they happen.

Several things at once, and quickly. Legally, § 475.130.7, RSMo allows a conservator who breaches the statutory duties to “be surcharged for losses to the estate caused by the breach,” and § 475.132.4 confirms that liability may be determined in “a proceeding for accounting, surcharge, or indemnification.” Section 475.160 provides a discovery-of-assets action for property that should be in the estate. Section 475.265 lets the court deny compensation altogether. Removal runs under § 473.140. Criminally, § 570.145 reaches undue influence “including improper use of a power of attorney or guardianship,” reaching a class A felony at $75,000. And the conservator’s bond under § 475.100 exists precisely for this. Report to the adult abuse hotline at 1-800-392-0210, then get the annual settlements and the bank records — the case is usually made on the paper.

In writing, specifically, and before the settlement date. Section 475.270, RSMo requires annual settlements within sixty days of the appointment anniversary, conforming to § 473.543 — which requires vouchers for disbursements over seventy-five dollars, satisfiable by an electronic copy of a check or a bank statement. That voucher requirement is where most accounting challenges begin: ask for the vouchers. On final settlement, § 475.290 requires the account and written notice to be delivered at least twenty days before the date set. Objections must be in writing and “clearly state the specific grounds of objection and the modification desired” — a general complaint that the numbers look wrong will not do. The exact filing window for objections in a conservatorship is an area where the decedents’ estate rules reach across through § 475.020, so confirm the deadline with the specific probate division rather than assuming. File early; do not wait for the hearing.

Preponderance of the evidence, and the difference from the original standard is deliberate. Section 475.083.6, RSMo: on a petition filed without the fiduciary’s joinder, the hearing is conducted under § 475.075, the court appoints an attorney if the ward is unrepresented, and “[t]he burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence shall be upon the petitioner.” Compare § 475.075.9, which required clear and convincing evidence to impose the guardianship in the first place. Missouri deliberately made it easier to get out than to get in. Two practical limits: a petition “may not be filed more than once every one hundred eighty days,” and the court may summarily dismiss one it finds frivolous. Under § 475.083.8 the court may require and consider a report from a physician, licensed psychologist or other qualified professional — permissive, not required. Restoration can also be partial: the petition may seek to decrease the fiduciary’s powers or return specific rights rather than end the case.

Yes, and Missouri went out of its way to make that possible. Section 475.083.4, RSMo allows the ward or protectee to petition individually — and provides that the petition “may be an informal letter to the court.” It then adds the enforcement: “Anyone who interferes with the transmission of the ward’s or protectee’s letter or petition may be cited by the court for contempt after notice and hearing.” That provision exists because the person most able to stop a ward from complaining is often the guardian. Supporting it, § 475.361.1 gives the ward the right to bring an action relating to the guardianship, including an action alleging they are “being unjustly denied a right or privilege granted by this chapter,” the right to a reasonably accessible guardian, the right to be restored at the earliest possible time, and the right to receive information from the court describing these rights. If someone under guardianship tells you they want out, they can say so directly.

Yes. Section 475.075.10(9), RSMo lists “[t]he right to appeal the court’s decision” among the respondent’s rights, and § 472.160 — applied to guardianships through § 475.020 — provides that “[a]ny interested person aggrieved thereby may appeal…from the order, judgment or decree of the probate division” in enumerated cases, including all settlements, orders revoking letters, and a catch-all for “all other cases where there is a final order or judgment of the probate division.” The review standard is the ordinary Missouri court-tried standard from Murphy v. Carron, 536 S.W.2d 30 (Mo. banc 1976): the judgment is affirmed unless there is no substantial evidence to support it, it is against the weight of the evidence, or it erroneously declares or applies the law. That is deferential on the facts, which is why the record has to be built at the hearing rather than on appeal. Appeal deadlines are short — ask about them the day the order enters.

Not who most people assume. Section 475.085.1, RSMo allocates the costs of an incapacity or disability proceeding: from the respondent’s estate if they are found incapacitated or disabled, from the county if the estate is insufficient, and — importantly — “if the person is found not to be incapacitated or disabled the costs shall be paid by the person filing the petition.” But note what that section does and does not cover. It shifts costs, not attorney’s fees. Section 475.265 allows attorney fees as the fiduciary’s necessary administration expense, court-fixed, and only “if the employment of an attorney for the particular purpose is necessary.” There is no Missouri statute making the estate pay a contestant’s legal fees, and claims that “the estate pays for everyone’s lawyer” are wrong. Budget for your own fees, and weigh § 475.085 seriously before filing a petition you may lose.

There is an emergency provision, but it is narrower and more procedural than people hope. Section 475.075.15, RSMo allows appointment of an emergency guardian ad litem or conservator ad litem where an alleged incapacitated or disabled person has no fiduciary and “an emergency exists that presents a substantial risk that serious physical harm will occur to the respondent’s person or irreparable damage will occur to the respondent’s property” — the property clause is the one that fits exploitation. Two corrections. It is not ex parte: notice to the respondent’s appointed attorney and service on the respondent are required, and appointment follows a hearing, though notice to other interested persons may be omitted. And the court must hold that hearing within five business days absent good cause. The appointment lasts up to ninety days, extendable in ninety-day increments on a showing of continuing emergency. In parallel, call the adult abuse hotline at 1-800-392-0210 and, where money is moving, notify the financial institution.

Missouri has a framework for exactly this. Sections 475.501 to 475.555, RSMo address jurisdiction in adult guardianship and protective proceedings that cross state lines — which state may take a case when a person has connections to more than one, how an existing guardianship is transferred into or out of Missouri, and how competing petitions in two states get resolved. There is also a transfer mechanism within Missouri: § 475.115 addresses successor appointment and transfer of a case between counties, including a requirement that where a public administrator’s conservatorship is transferred, the final settlement be filed within thirty days. If a parent has moved to Missouri, splits time between states, or already has a guardian appointed elsewhere, sort out jurisdiction before anything is filed. Bring the existing orders and letters to the first conversation — a petition filed in the wrong state costs months and is sometimes void.

Sometimes, and the honest answer depends on which of three things you actually want. If the goal is to stop an unnecessary guardianship, the ground to fight on is § 475.079.1’s less restrictive alternative element — and that is a strong position when a valid power of attorney or trust already exists. If the goal is to change who serves, the priority order in § 475.050 and the background screening do much of the work, and a nomination your family member made while competent is close to decisive. If the goal is to stop a fiduciary who is mishandling money or isolating a ward, the tools are real: removal under § 473.140, surcharge under § 475.130.7, the bond, denial of compensation under § 475.265, and the annual review under § 475.082. What is rarely worth funding is a fight about family grievances dressed up as a guardianship dispute — those are expensive, public, and they land on someone who is already vulnerable. A candid first meeting should tell you which one you have.