Understanding Adult Guardianship Through Civil Court Data

When an adult is no longer able to make important decisions about health, finances, or daily life, a court may appoint a guardian to act on their behalf. These decisions carry significant consequences, yet public information on how guardianship cases are filed and decided is often limited. Through the Civil Court Data Initiative (CCDI), we’re analyzing court records from across the country to uncover trends in filings, case outcomes, and the people involved. We’re just getting started. New briefs and interactive tools will continue to expand this work that will bring greater transparency to the guardianship system and support efforts to strengthen protections for vulnerable adults.

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Explore the data

Data notes

Source: Filing rates are calculated by Civil Court Data Initiative using incoming adult guardianship case counts from the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) Court Statistics Project. Data quality and completeness may vary by state and year.

  • Adult Guardianship: Legal cases where a court appoints someone to make personal care decisions (e.g., healthcare, living arrangements) for an adult unable to care for themselves. (See full definition from NCSC)

  • Incoming Cases: Counts reflect the total number of cases added to the court’s workload during the year, including new filings, reopened cases, and reactivations. (Definition based on NCSC’s caseload guidance)

Tracking Guardianship Filings Rates Over Time

This interactive tool lets you explore adult guardianship filing rates per 10,000 adults across U.S. states from 2016 to 2023. Drawing on data from the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) and the Civil Court Data Initiative (CCDI), the tool allows you to select a year and toggle between “Show filing rates” and “Show data availability” to see how reporting varies across states.

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Notes: The line graph in each tooltip is designed to show data availability over time, not to support direct comparisons across states. The y-axis is not standardized, so trends should be interpreted cautiously. Rates reflect the number of filings per 10,000 adults in each state, based on one-year ACS population estimates from 2016 to 2023.

Source for filing rates: S.Gibson, N.Waters, M.Hamilton, E.Stevens, M.Moffett, H.Caspers, E.Taylor, eds. Last Updated October 2024 CSP STAT, National Centre for State Courts www.courtstatistics.org.

Filings rates are calculated by Civil Court Data Initiative, Legal Services Corporation, 2025.

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Why better data matters

This a foundational brief which introduces key guardianship concepts and highlights the need for better data to understand how these civil cases are handled.

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Understanding the process

This brief provides an overview of the typical stages in adult guardianship cases, from petition to court oversight.

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