In this scientific article, a regulatory and legal analysis of the historical development of the institution of guardianship and care during the times of independent Ukraine was carried out. First of all, we highlighted the periods of origin and development of the institution of guardianship and care from the times of Kyivan Rus, the times when the Ukrainian lands were part of Lithuania and Poland, the times of the russian empire, and the soviet period. Attention is focused on the main legal acts of independent Ukraine regarding guardianship and guardianship provisions. Thus, the provisions of the Constitution of Ukraine, the Order «On Approval of the Rules of Guardianship and Care», the Family Code of Ukraine, the Civil Code of Ukraine and other laws of Ukraine were analyzed. Concepts of guardianship and care, regulations on the rights of wards, the rights of guardians and custodians, provisions on the property of orphans and children deprived of parental care, on the property of persons with disabilities, principles of termination of guardianship and care were analyzed. Provisions on state aid, incentive and compensatory payments, allowances to orphans, persons with disabilities, children deprived of parental care, which are approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, taking into account the constant change in the subsistence minimum required for these categories of persons, were also analyzed. Ukraine's accession to international law in the field of custody and care was noted. Changes to Ukrainian legislation regarding internally displaced persons in need of guardianship or care are taken into account. Attention was also paid to the modern period, in particular after the introduction of the legal regime of martial law in Ukraine and the corresponding change in the provisions on guardianship and care in this period - in terms of increasing the role of the state in monitoring and controlling the observance of the rights of orphans and children deprived of parental care, and legal procedures for their placement.