PRIVATE PROFESSIONAL GUARDIANS

From the Legislature

Reinserts provisions of House Amendment No.1 with the following changes. Provides that if a private professional guardian is serving as a limited or plenary guardian of a person with a disability and intends to name the Office of State Guardian or public guardian as successor, notice shall be provided to the court and the Office of State Guardian or a public guardian not less than 120 days before the hearing for a successor to a limited or plenary guardian unless the assets of the person with a disability at the time of the appointment of the limited or plenary guardian do not exceed the estimated amount necessary for funding of the needs of the person with a disability for a period of 120 days. Provides that before being appointed as guardian for a person with a disability, the private professional guardian must certify, in open court or by affidavit: (i) that the private professional guardian has personally met with and assessed the respondent or, if not reasonably possible, consistent with the National Guardianship Association Standards of Practice, certify that they will meet with the respondent as soon as feasible after the appointment. Provides that a private professional guardian may not (i) have any direct or indirect beneficial interest, financial or otherwise, in entities or corporations that transact business with the estate or receive benefits, including referral fees, from persons, entities, or corporations that transact business with the estate or on behalf of the person under its guardianship, excluding any fixed salary received from its employer. Provides that within 2 years of the effective date of the amendatory Act, a person or the president, director, or chief executive officer of a not-for-profit corporation and employees of the private professional guardian who serve as a private professional guardian must be certified as a national master guardian or a national certified guardian by the Center for Guardianship Certification or its successor organization. Requires a private professional guardian that manages, in the aggregate, more than $1 million of assets as a guardian of persons with a disability, to arrange for an independent audit by a qualified examiner of its financial records on an annual basis. Requires a private professional guardian to promptly notify the court at such time that it estimates the estate of the person with a disability can no longer afford the services of the private professional guardian or, if the sale of respondent's residence would be required for the continued services of a private professional guardian, within 36 months or less. Makes structural changes.