Bill Text: MI SB0255 | 2023-2024 | 102nd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Probate: guardians and conservators; requirements to be appointed as guardian or conservator; revise. Amends secs. 5106, 5310, 5313 & 5409 of 1998 PA 386 (MCL 700.5106 et seq.).
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-1)
Status: (Introduced) 2023-04-11 - Referred To Committee On Civil Rights, Judiciary, And Public Safety [SB0255 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2023-SB0255-Introduced.html
SENATE BILL NO. 255
A bill to amend 1998 PA 386, entitled
"Estates and protected individuals code,"
by amending sections 5106, 5310, 5313, and 5409 (MCL 700.5106, 700.5310, 700.5313, and 700.5409), section 5106 as amended by 2017 PA 136, section 5310 as amended by 2000 PA 54, section 5313 as amended by 2012 PA 545, and section 5409 as amended by 2000 PA 463.
the people of the state of michigan enact:
Sec. 5106. (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), the court may appoint or approve a professional guardian or professional conservator, as appropriate, as a guardian or conservator under this act, or as a plenary guardian or partial guardian as those terms are defined in section 600 of the mental health code, 1974 PA 258, MCL 330.1600.
(2) The court shall only appoint a professional guardian or professional conservator as authorized under subsection (1) if the court finds on the record all of the following:
(a) The appointment of the professional guardian or professional conservator is in the ward's, developmentally disabled individual's, incapacitated individual's, or protected individual's best interests.
(b) There is no other person that is competent, suitable, and willing to serve in that fiduciary capacity in accordance with section 5212, 5313, or 5409.
(3) The court shall not appoint a person as a professional guardian or professional conservator as authorized under subsection (1) unless the both of the following conditions are met:
(a) The professional guardian or professional conservator files a bond in an amount and with the conditions as determined by the court. For a professional conservator, the sureties and liabilities of the bond are subject to sections 5410 and 5411.
(b) The person will serve as professional guardian or professional conservator, or both, for not more than 12 wards or protected individuals.
(4) A professional guardian or professional conservator appointed under this section shall not receive as a result of that appointment a benefit beyond compensation specifically authorized for that type of fiduciary by this act or the mental health code, 1974 PA 258, MCL 330.1001 to 330.2106. This subsection does not prevent a person from providing compensation or other benefits, from a source other than the estate of the ward, developmentally disabled individual, incapacitated individual, or protected individual, to a professional guardian or professional conservator appointed or approved under this section. If a professional guardian or professional conservator appointed or approved under this section receives or is to receive compensation or other benefits as a result of that appointment from a person other than this state, a political subdivision of this state, or a trust created under section 5407(2), the professional guardian or professional conservator shall file with the appointing or approving court a written statement of the compensation or other benefit received or to be received, including the source of the compensation or other benefit, in a form and in a manner prescribed by the Michigan court rules. The professional guardian or professional conservator shall serve a copy of the form described in this subsection to the ward, developmentally disabled individual, incapacitated individual, or protected individual and to interested persons.
(5) A professional guardian appointed under this section shall establish and maintain a schedule of visitation so that an individual associated with the professional guardian who is responsible for the ward's care visits the ward within 3 months after the professional guardian's appointment and not less than once within 3 months after each previous visit.
(6) A professional guardian appointed under this section shall ensure that there are a sufficient number of employees assigned to the care of wards for the purpose of performing the necessary duties associated with ensuring that proper and appropriate care is provided.
(7) For the purposes of the statutory authorization required by section 1105(2)(e) of the banking code of 1999, 1999 PA 276, MCL 487.11105, to act as a fiduciary in this state, if the court appoints a for-profit or nonprofit, nonbanking corporation organized under the laws of this state to serve in a fiduciary capacity that is listed in subsection (1), the nonbanking corporation is authorized to act in that fiduciary capacity. The authorization under this subsection confers the fiduciary capacity only to the extent necessary in the particular matter of each appointment and is not a general grant of fiduciary authority. A nonbanking corporation is not authorized to act in any other fiduciary capacity.
(8) By April 1 of each year, the court shall submit a report to the state court administrative office that includes the following information:
(a) For each professional guardian appointed in the preceding calendar year, all of the following:
(i) The name of the professional guardian.
(ii) The name of the ward.
(iii) The date of appointment.
(iv) The case number.
(b) For each professional conservator appointed in the preceding calendar year, all of the following:
(i) The name of the professional conservator.
(ii) The name of the protected individual.
(iii) The date of appointment.
(iv) The case number.
Sec. 5310. (1) On petition of the guardian and subject to the filing and approval of a report prepared as required by section 5314, the court shall accept the guardian's resignation and make any other order that is appropriate.
(2) The ward or a person interested in the ward's welfare may petition for an order removing the guardian, appointing a successor guardian, modifying the guardianship's terms, or terminating the guardianship. A request for this order may be made by informal letter to the court or judge. A person who knowingly interferes with the transmission of this kind of request to the court or judge is subject to a finding of contempt of court. A petition for an order appointing a successor guardian under this subsection is subject to the priority of appointment under section 5313.
(3) Except as otherwise provided in the order finding incapacity, upon receiving a petition or request under this section, the court shall set a date for a hearing to be held within 28 days after the receipt of the petition or request. An order finding incapacity may specify a minimum period, not exceeding 182 days, during which a petition or request for a finding that a ward is no longer an incapacitated individual, or for an order removing the guardian, modifying the guardianship's terms, or terminating the guardianship, shall not be filed without special leave of the court.
(4) Before removing a guardian, appointing a successor guardian, modifying the guardianship's terms, or terminating a guardianship, and following the same procedures to safeguard the ward's rights as apply to a petition for a guardian's appointment, the court may send a visitor to the present guardian's residence and to the place where the ward resides or is detained to observe conditions and report in writing to the court.
Sec. 5313. (1) The court may appoint a competent person as guardian of a legally incapacitated individual. The court shall not appoint as a guardian an agency, public or private, that financially benefits from directly providing housing, medical, mental health, or social services to the legally incapacitated individual. If the court determines that the ward's property needs protection, the court shall order the guardian to furnish a bond or shall include restrictions in the letters of guardianship as necessary to protect the property.
(2) In appointing a guardian under this section, the court shall appoint a person, if suitable under subsection (5) and willing to serve, in the following order of priority:
(a) A person previously appointed, qualified, and serving in good standing as guardian for the legally incapacitated individual in another state.
(b) A person the individual subject to the petition chooses to serve as guardian.
(c) A person nominated as guardian in a durable power of attorney or other writing by the individual subject to the petition.
(d) A person named by the individual as a patient advocate or attorney in fact in a durable power of attorney.
(3) If there is no person chosen, nominated, or named under subsection (2), or if none of the persons listed in subsection (2) are suitable or willing to serve, the court may shall appoint as a guardian an individual who is related to the individual who is the subject of the petition or an individual who has an established relationship with the individual who is the subject of the petition, if suitable under subsection (5) and willing to serve, in the following order of preference:
(a) The legally incapacitated individual's spouse. This subdivision shall must be considered to include a person nominated by will or other writing signed by a deceased spouse.
(b) An adult child of the legally incapacitated individual.
(c) A parent of the legally incapacitated individual. This subdivision shall must be considered to include a person nominated by will or other writing signed by a deceased parent.
(d) A relative of the legally incapacitated individual with whom the individual has resided for more than 6 months before the filing of the petition.
(e) A person nominated by a person who is caring for the legally incapacitated individual or paying benefits to the legally incapacitated individual.
(f) A person with an established relationship with the legally incapacitated individual.
(4) If none of the persons as designated or listed in subsection (2) or (3) are suitable under subsection (5) or willing to serve, the court may appoint any competent person who is suitable under subsection (5) and willing to serve, including a professional guardian as provided in section 5106.
(5) The court shall appoint a person with priority guardian of a legally incapacitated individual unless specific findings on the record indicate that the person is not suitable as set forth in this subsection or is not willing to serve. A person is suitable to serve on a determination of specific findings of the court, including, but not limited to, all of the following factors:
(a) The person's availability to the individual subject to the guardianship.
(b) The person's history and relationship with the individual subject to the guardianship.
(c) The person's criminal history that is relevant to the care, custody, and control of the individual subject to the guardianship.
(d) The person's financial history, including, but not limited to, employment, training, skills, and stability, that will facilitate fulfillment of duties.
(e) The person's character.
(6) In deciding between 2 persons with equal priority under this section, the court shall hold a separate hearing within 28 days after the hearing under section 5303. In the separate hearing under this subsection, the court must weigh the factors under subsection (5) with specific findings on the record.
Sec. 5409. (1) The court may appoint an individual, a corporation authorized to exercise fiduciary powers, or a professional conservator described in section 5106 to serve as conservator of a protected individual's estate. The following are entitled to consideration for appointment in the following order of priority:
(a) A conservator, guardian of property, or similar fiduciary appointed or recognized by the appropriate court of another jurisdiction in which the protected individual resides.
(b) An individual or corporation nominated by the protected individual if he or she is 14 years of age or older and of sufficient mental capacity to make an intelligent choice, including a nomination made in a durable power of attorney.
(c) The protected individual's spouse.
(d) An adult child of the protected individual.
(e) A parent of the protected individual or a person nominated by the will of a deceased parent.
(f) A relative of the protected individual with whom he or she has resided for more than 6 months before the petition is filed.
(g) A person nominated by the person who is caring for or paying benefits to the protected individual.
(h) A person with an established relationship with the protected individual.
(i) (h) If none of the persons listed in subdivisions (a) to (g) (h) are suitable under subsection (3) and willing to serve, any person that the court determines is suitable and willing to serve.
(2) A person named in subsection (1)(a), (c), (d), (e), or (f) may designate in writing a substitute to serve instead, and that designation transfers the priority to the substitute. If persons have equal priority, the court shall select the person the court considers best qualified to serve. Acting in the protected individual's best interest, the court may pass over a person having priority and appoint a person having a lower priority or no priority.
(3) The court shall appoint a person with priority to serve as conservator of a protected individual's estate unless specific findings on the record indicate the person is not suitable as set forth in this subsection or is not willing to serve. A person is suitable to serve on a determination of specific findings by the court, including, but not limited to, all of the following factors:
(a) The person's availability to the individual subject to the conservatorship.
(b) The person's history and relationship with the individual subject to the conservatorship.
(c) The person's criminal history that is relevant to the role of a conservator.
(d) The person's financial history, including, but not limited to, employment, training, skills, and stability, that will facilitate fulfillment of duties.
(e) The person's character.
(4) In deciding between 2 persons with equal priority under this section, the court shall hold a separate hearing within 28 days after the hearing under section 5401. In the separate hearing under this subsection, the court must weigh the factors under subsection (3) with specific findings on the record.
