Contested Guardianship in Fort Worth

Guardianship cases come to us in two ways. Someone has applied to become guardian of your parent, sibling or adult child, and you believe the wrong person is about to take control. Or a guardian is already serving and the ward is worse off than before. Both are decided in a Tarrant County statutory probate court, on evidence, by a judge.

Where the case is heard

Tarrant County has two statutory probate courts in the same downtown courthouse. Which one has your case affects scheduling and the room you go to.

• Probate Court No. 1Room 260A, Tarrant County Courthouse, 100 West Weatherford Street, Fort Worth, TX 76196.
• Probate Court No. 2Room 150, same courthouse, 100 West Weatherford Street, Fort Worth, TX 76196.

The associate judge for Probate Court No. 2 sits in Room 220A, not Room 150. Check the room before you bring the ward or a witness downtown.

What the court must find to create a guardianship

Estates Code Section 1101.101 lists the findings a court must make before it creates a guardianship. Some must be proved by clear and convincing evidence, including that the proposed ward is incapacitated, that a guardianship is in the person’s best interest, and that alternatives to guardianship were considered and aren’t feasible.

If you are opposing an application, those findings are what the applicant has to prove, and the contest turns on whether the evidence supports each one. If a guardianship already exists, the same findings show what the court was told at the start. Compare that with what has happened since.

Tex. Est. Code § 1101.101.

Expect mediation

Probate Court No. 1’s published policies require mediation before a final trial unless there is good cause. The policies explain that in contested guardianships, mediation can address family conflict that a trial would leave in place. Prepare your case on the assumption that a mediator will review it first.

Under the same policies, the associate judge may hear any matter in the court except a jury trial, so much of a contested guardianship may be heard by the associate judge.

Removing a guardian

The Estates Code provides for removing a guardian without notice in limited situations, such as misapplying the ward’s property or abuse, neglect or exploitation of the ward (Section 1203.051), and with notice on other grounds, such as failing to account or gross misconduct (Section 1203.052). Removal has to be pleaded and proved like any other request for relief.

• Build a dated record of the ward’s circumstances when the guardian took over and now.
• Gather documents. Bank statements, invoices, care records and correspondence carry more weight than recollection.
• Identify other witnesses, such as relatives, facility staff or treating providers, who saw what you saw.
• Decide what you want to happen next. If the judge removes the guardian, someone still has to care for the ward the next day.
• Expect it to take time. A contested guardianship commonly takes more than a year.

Tex. Est. Code §§ 1203.051, 1203.052.

Work we don’t take

We take contested guardianship applications and applications to remove a guardian. We don’t handle uncontested guardianships or the annual reports that follow. If nobody is contesting the guardianship, a general probate lawyer is a better fit.