To file for temporary guardianship in California, submit two petitions to the probate division of your county’s superior court: Form GC-210 to open a general guardianship case, and Form GC-110(P) asking the court to appoint you as temporary guardian while that case is pending. You must show good cause, meaning the child faces a situation that requires immediate protection, and you must personally serve the parents and certain other people with notice of the hearing.
Consider a Caregiver’s Authorization Affidavit First
Not every situation needs a court order. California law lets any adult caring for a minor sign a Caregiver’s Authorization Affidavit to enroll the child in school and authorize school-related medical care. If you are related to the child by blood, adoption, or marriage within five degrees of kinship, the affidavit also lets you consent to other medical treatment.1Judicial Council of California. Caregiver’s Authorization Affidavit
The affidavit needs only your signature. No parent signature, no notarization, no filing fee. Schools and medical providers are required by law to honor it. What it does not do is give you legal custody. A parent can revoke it at any time, and it expires after a year. If parents are absent, uncooperative, or a source of danger, or you need broader authority, temporary guardianship through the court is the right path.
Who Can Petition
Any relative or other person acting on behalf of the minor can file. A child who is 12 or older can also petition on their own behalf.2Justia. California Probate Code 1510-1517 – Guardianship You do not have to be a blood relative. Grandparents, aunts and uncles, family friends, and other adults with a genuine connection to the child are all eligible. The court cares whether you can provide a safe, stable home, not how you are related.
What Counts as Good Cause
Your petition must describe facts showing good cause for immediate appointment. In practice, that means the child’s physical or emotional safety is at risk and waiting for the general guardianship hearing would leave the child unprotected.3California Legislative Information. California Code PROB 2250 – Temporary Guardians and Conservators Common triggers include a parent’s sudden hospitalization, incarceration, substance abuse crisis, or abandonment of the child, and situations where the parent is themselves a minor who cannot provide adequate care.
Be specific. “The child’s mother was arrested on [date] and no other parent is available” tells the court far more than “the home situation is unstable.” Concrete facts move the case; generalities stall it.
The Forms You Need to File
Everything is available on the California Courts website or at your county superior court’s self-help center. You will need the child’s full legal name, date of birth, and address; the same for both parents; and your own identifying information and relationship to the child.
The core packet:
- Petition for Appointment of Guardian of the Minor (Form GC-210). This opens the general guardianship case. A temporary petition cannot exist on its own; it rides alongside a pending or simultaneously filed general petition.4Judicial Council of California. California Judicial Council Form GC-110(P) – Petition for Appointment of Temporary Guardian of the Person
- Petition for Appointment of Temporary Guardian of the Person (Form GC-110(P)). This is where you explain the emergency. Note the “(P)”: this form covers the child’s person, not their estate or finances.5California Courts. Petition for Appointment of Temporary Guardian of the Person
- Declaration Under the UCCJEA (Form GC-120). Where the child has lived for the past five years and whether any other custody proceedings exist in any state.
- Duties of Guardian (Form GC-248). Your signed acknowledgment that you understand your legal responsibilities.
- Child Information Attachment (Form GC-210(CA)). A separate copy for each child, covering siblings, any Indian ancestry under the Indian Child Welfare Act, and why guardianship serves the child’s best interest.
Counties sometimes require additional local forms. Check your county superior court’s site or self-help center before filing.
If the child is or may be an Indian child, federal law requires you to file and serve a Notice of Child Custody Proceeding for Indian Child (Form ICWA-030) in addition to the standard packet. If you are unsure, disclose what you know and let the court decide whether tribal notice is required.
Filing Fees and Fee Waivers
File the completed forms with the clerk in the probate division of your county’s superior court. California charges $225 for the general guardianship petition (guardianship of the person) and $60 for the temporary guardianship petition, for a combined $285.6Superior Court of California. Statewide Civil Fee Schedule Effective January 1, 2026 If you are also seeking guardianship of the child’s estate, the general petition fee rises to $435. The clerk assigns a case number and sets a hearing date.
If you cannot afford the fees, request a fee waiver using Form FW-001. You automatically qualify if you receive Medi-Cal, CalFresh, CalWORKs, SSI, or General Assistance. Even without public benefits, the court can waive fees if your income cannot cover both basic household needs and court costs.
Serving Notice on the Parents and Others
After filing, someone other than you must hand-deliver copies of the filed petitions, the Notice of Hearing, and the Comparison of Guardians With Other Nonparent Caregivers (Form GC-207-INFO/JV-352-INFO) to specific people:7California Courts. Serve a Petition to Become a Temporary Guardian
- The child’s parents
- The child, if 12 or older
- Anyone with legal custody of the child
- Anyone with a valid visitation order in effect when you filed
- Any person nominated as the child’s guardian, or serving as guardian of the child’s estate
Unless the court orders otherwise, your server must complete personal delivery at least five court days before the hearing. Court days are Monday through Friday, excluding court holidays. Count backward from the hearing date (the hearing itself is day zero); if the fifth day lands on a weekend or holiday, keep going back to the next open court day.7California Courts. Serve a Petition to Become a Temporary Guardian
After service, your server fills out a Proof of Service form documenting who was served, when, and how. File that Proof of Service with the court before the hearing.
When the Court Waives or Shortens Notice
Five court days can feel like an eternity when a child is in danger. California law lets the court waive or modify notice for good cause, which must be based on a showing that the exception is necessary to protect the child from immediate and substantial harm.3California Legislative Information. California Code PROB 2250 – Temporary Guardians and Conservators The court can waive notice to some or all parties, shorten the notice period, or allow notice by phone, fax, or email instead of hand delivery.
If the custodial parent has died or become incapacitated and nominated you as guardian, the statute treats those facts as good cause to skip notice to the other parent or other parties. When a temporary guardianship is granted without standard notice (an ex parte order) and the general guardianship hearing is not scheduled within 30 days, the court must set a reconsideration hearing within 30 days so parents and other interested parties get a chance to be heard.
What Happens at the Hearing
The judge reviews your paperwork, confirms notice was properly given or that an exception applies, and evaluates whether the child’s circumstances justify a temporary guardian. The standard is the child’s best interest.
Expect to explain the emergency in your own words, describe your relationship with the child, and outline how you will care for them. Judges want specifics: where the child will sleep, who takes them to school, what medical needs you know about. If a parent appears and objects, the judge will hear them out. An objection does not automatically defeat your petition, but it raises the bar on your factual showing.
The Court Investigation
California law requires an investigation and written report in guardianship cases, though the court can waive it for good cause. Relatives are investigated by a court investigator; non-relatives are investigated by the county’s child welfare agency.8California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 1513 The report covers your social history, the child’s developmental and emotional needs, the nature and length of your relationship with the child, and the long-term plans of both you and the parents. The investigator typically interviews you, the child if old enough, and often other family before filing a recommendation. For a temporary appointment, the court may proceed before the investigation is complete if the emergency demands it, with the investigation continuing in the background for the general hearing.
After the Court Grants Temporary Guardianship
Before you receive your official paperwork, you must take an oath and, if the court requires it, file a bond. The bond protects the child’s financial interests, and when the appointment covers only the person (not the estate), the court often waives it.9California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 2251 The court then issues Letters of Temporary Guardianship (Form GC-150), your proof of authority. Schools, doctors, and insurers will ask to see them, so keep certified copies available.10Judicial Branch of California. Letters of Temporary Guardianship or Conservatorship GC-150
What You Can and Cannot Do
A temporary guardian’s authority is narrower than a permanent guardian’s. Under California law, you have only those powers necessary to provide for the child’s temporary care, maintenance, and support.11California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 2252 That covers day-to-day decisions about where the child lives, what they eat, and how they get to school, and it includes consent to medical treatment.
You cannot take possession of the child’s money or property without a specific court order.12Judicial Council of California. California Judicial Council Form GC-150 – Letters of Temporary Guardianship or Conservatorship Consenting to the child’s marriage or adoption is also off-limits without separate court approval. If you need authority beyond basic care, ask the court to grant specific additional powers in the appointment order or through a later request.
How Long It Lasts
Temporary guardianship is a bridge, not a destination. It stays in effect only until the hearing on the general guardianship petition, at which point the court either appoints a general guardian or ends the guardianship if the emergency has resolved.7California Courts. Serve a Petition to Become a Temporary Guardian If the temporary order was granted ex parte, a reconsideration hearing must be scheduled within 30 days when the general hearing is set further out.13Justia. California Probate Code 2250-2258 – Temporary Guardians and Conservators The appointment does not terminate parental rights. Parents keep the right to appear, object, and seek the return of their child.