Maryland Guardianship of the Property of a Minor: When a Child Has Assets

When Does a Minor Need a Property Guardian?

Maryland requires a guardian of the property when a child owns, inherits, or receives financial assets that need management. Common triggers:

• A parent or grandparent dies and leaves an inheritance
• The child receives life insurance proceeds or a wrongful death settlement
• A personal injury lawsuit results in a monetary award
• The child receives Social Security survivor benefits that exceed routine needs
• Property or a trust distributes funds to the child

Without a court-appointed guardian of the property, no one has legal authority to manage these assets on the child's behalf. Banks, insurance companies, and settlement administrators will not release funds to a relative who lacks a court order.

Guardianship of the property is separate from guardianship of the person. A caregiver responsible for the child's daily care does not automatically have authority over the child's money. Many kinship cases require both, filed together on Form CC-GN-001.

Filing the Petition

Guardianship of the property is governed by Maryland Estates and Trusts Article § 13-201 and filed using the same Form CC-GN-001 used for guardianship of the person. Check the box indicating you are seeking guardianship of the property (or both person and property if applicable).

File in Circuit Court or Orphans' Court. The same jurisdictional rules apply — Orphans' Court has concurrent jurisdiction in most counties, but the presiding judge must be a bar member, and Harford, Howard, and Montgomery counties route everything through Circuit Court.

The court may require the proposed guardian to post a bond — a financial guarantee protecting the child's assets against mismanagement. Bond amounts are typically set based on the value of the minor's estate. The court can waive the bond requirement if the estate is small or if assets are placed in restricted accounts.

Fiduciary Duties: What the Court Expects

A property guardian is a court-supervised fiduciary with strict legal obligations:

Initial inventory (Form CC-GN-011): within 60 days of appointment, file a complete inventory listing every asset the child owns — bank accounts, real property, securities, insurance proceeds, personal property of value. This establishes the baseline the court will use to track your management.

Annual fiduciary accounting (Form CC-GN-012): every year, file a detailed accounting with the court showing all income received, all expenditures made, and the current value of the estate. Attach bank statements and financial documentation. A filing fee of $10 plus a review fee based on estate value accompanies each report.

Restricted bank accounts: courts frequently order that the child's monetary assets be deposited into restricted accounts that require court permission before any withdrawal. This protects the child's money from unauthorized spending and ensures major expenditures are reviewed.

Court approval for major expenditures: use Form CC-GN-032 (Motion for Appropriate Relief) to request permission for significant spending from the child's estate — tuition, medical expenses, vehicle purchases, or home modifications. Routine guardianship expenses do not require a motion, but the line between routine and major depends on the estate's size and the court's instructions.

Administrative commissions: a property guardian can petition for reasonable compensation using Form CC-GN-025. The court reviews the request and determines whether the amount is justified based on the work performed and the estate's size.

How Property Guardianship Ends

The guardianship of the property terminates when:

• The child turns 18 — at which point the guardian must transfer all remaining assets to the now-adult and file a final accounting
• The estate assets are fully exhausted
• The court orders termination on motion of a party

The final accounting is critical. The court reviews it to confirm that all assets were properly managed and that the guardian's expenditures were appropriate. Until the court approves the final accounting and formally discharges the guardian, the fiduciary obligations continue.

For a complete walkthrough of property guardianship — from the petition through annual accounting and discharge — alongside guardianship of the person and custody, the Maryland Guardianship and Custody Guide covers all three legal pathways in one resource.

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