(A) If the Office of Public Guardian is nominated as the guardian and/or conservator, the Office of Public Guardian shall be considered an interested person.
§ 6-1433.02.Public Guardian.
Article 14: Uniform County Court Rules of Practice and Procedure · Last amended September 10, 2015 · Last verified July 22, 2026
In one sentenceThis rule sets the operating rules for the Office of Public Guardian once it is appointed guardian or conservator — no bond, a sliding fee scale, an informational budget instead of the standard rule, a ban on ATM withdrawals, and the visitor or guardian ad litem screening that precedes appointment.
Full Text of § 6-1433.02
(B) No bond shall be required of the Office of Public Guardian.
(C) If the Office of Public Guardian is appointed guardian and/or conservator, payments to the Office of Public Guardian will be allowed as per the established sliding fee scale as approved by the Court.
(D) If the Office of Public Guardian is appointed guardian and/or conservator, the Office of Public Guardian shall be required to file a budget with the initial inventory. This shall be for informational purposes only. Neb. Ct. R. § 6-1442.01 shall not apply to the Office of Public Guardian. The Office of Public Guardian shall be required to file an annual accounting even if a budget has been provided.
(E) The Office of Public Guardian is prohibited from making ATM withdrawals or receiving cash back on debit transactions, and this shall be reflected on the Letters.
(F) If the Office of Public Guardian is nominated as the initial or successor guardian or conservator, the court shall appoint a visitor and/or guardian ad litem, consistent with Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-2619.01, or a guardian ad litem pursuant to Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-2222(4), to ensure the necessity of the guardianship and/or conservatorship, whether there is an appropriate private guardian and/or private conservator to serve in the case and to determine the appropriate limitations within the guardianship and/or conservatorship.
(1) If the acknowledgment of nomination and caseload capacity verification filed by the Office of Public Guardian indicates the Office of Public Guardian has caseload capacity to take the case, the appointment of a visitor and/or guardian ad litem will occur within 10 judicial days of the court receiving the acknowledgment.
(2) If the acknowledgment and caseload capacity verification filed by the Office of Public Guardian indicates the Office of Public Guardian does not have caseload capacity to take the case, the court may request the case be placed on the Public Guardian waiting list. If the court requests the case be placed on the Office of Public Guardian's waiting list, the court shall appoint a visitor and/or guardian ad litem within 10 judicial days of the court's waiting list request.
(G) The court may appoint the Office of Public Guardian on a temporary basis if an emergency exists until an evidentiary hearing can be held. The court shall appoint a visitor and/or guardian ad litem as provided in subsection (F) above within 10 days of signing the temporary Order.
(H) An appointed visitor and/or guardian ad litem is to conduct an evaluation of the allegations of incapacity and whether there is an appropriate private guardian and/or private conservator to serve in the case. The visitor or guardian ad litem shall provide a written report to the court, on a form approved by the State Court Administrator's Office, and allow for the filing of responses to the report in accordance with Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 30-2619 through 30-2619.04.
(I) The court should consider utilizing a multi-disciplinary screening to determine diminished capacity. The multi-disciplinary screening shall include, but is not limited to, the individual's: (1) medical condition; (2) cognitive functioning; (3) daily living functional abilities; (4) consistency of functioning with his/her values, preferences, and lifetime patterns; (5) risk of harm in the context of his/her social and environmental supports; and (6) means to enhance capacity through accommodations and effective communication techniques. This screening may be done by a trained visitor or trained guardian ad litem that is appointed by the court.
(J) The Office of Public Guardian may file a motion to make more definite and certain a statement of functional limitation (§ 30-2619) regarding the determination of necessity to ascertain whether any alternative to public guardianship or conservatorship exists.
Amendment History
§ 6-1433.02 adopted September 10, 2015.
Plain-English Summary
Section 6-1433.02 picks up where § 6-1433.01 leaves off, describing how the Office of Public Guardian operates once a court appoints it. The office counts as an interested person in the case, and unlike a private guardian or conservator, it does not have to post a bond. Instead of ordinary fees, it gets paid on a sliding fee scale the court approves — a structure built around the office’s public function rather than a private guardian’s market rate.
Money-handling rules get particular attention. The office files a budget with its initial inventory, but only for informational purposes, and § 6-1442.01 — the rule that otherwise governs how guardians and conservators get their budgets approved — does not apply to it. Even so, the office still has to file an annual accounting whether or not it provided a budget. And to guard against the kind of quiet cash leakage that is hard to trace, the office cannot make ATM withdrawals or take cash back on debit transactions, a restriction the Letters themselves must reflect.
Before the office ever gets to that point, though, a visitor or guardian ad litem has to check the case out. The court appoints one to confirm the guardianship or conservatorship is necessary, to look for a private guardian or conservator who could serve instead, and to sort out what limits the appointment should carry — with timing again keyed to whether the office’s acknowledgment shows it has caseload room. In an emergency, the court can appoint the office on a temporary basis first and still has to appoint that visitor or guardian ad litem within 10 days of the temporary order.
The visitor or guardian ad litem’s evaluation can include a multidisciplinary screening covering the person’s medical condition, cognitive functioning, daily living abilities, consistency with their own values and preferences, risk of harm, and what accommodations might enhance their capacity. And if the office thinks the record on incapacity is too vague, it can move to make the statement of functional limitation more definite and certain, to test whether any alternative to guardianship or conservatorship truly does not exist.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Office of Public Guardian have to post a bond?
No. Section 6-1433.02 specifically states that no bond is required of the Office of Public Guardian.
How does the Office of Public Guardian get paid?
Through a sliding fee scale the court approves, rather than the fee arrangements that apply to a private guardian or conservator.
Does the Office of Public Guardian have to get its budget approved like other guardians and conservators?
No. It files a budget with the initial inventory for informational purposes only, and § 6-1442.01, the usual budget-approval rule, does not apply to it — though it still must file an annual accounting.
Why can’t the Office of Public Guardian make ATM withdrawals?
The rule bars it from ATM withdrawals and cash back on debit transactions, and requires the Letters to reflect that restriction, to keep the office’s handling of a ward’s or protected person’s money traceable.
What happens if the court needs to appoint the Office of Public Guardian immediately, in an emergency?
The court can appoint the office on a temporary basis until it can hold an evidentiary hearing, but it still has to appoint a visitor or guardian ad litem within 10 days of signing that temporary order.
What is the multidisciplinary screening mentioned in this rule?
It is an evaluation a trained visitor or guardian ad litem may conduct, covering the person’s medical condition, cognitive functioning, daily living abilities, consistency with their values and preferences, risk of harm, and ways to enhance their capacity through accommodations.
Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Nebraska Judicial Branch, adopted by the
Supreme Court of Nebraska. Last verified July 22, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as: public guardian bond requirement nebraskapublic guardian sliding fee scalepublic guardian budget filing rulesATM withdrawal ban public guardianpublic guardian emergency temporary appointmentmultidisciplinary capacity screening guardian ad litem