Arizona Legislature Adopts Probate Changes

APRIL 25, 2011 VOLUME 18 NUMBER 15
Last week the Arizona Legislature adjourned for the year. Just before closing down the session legislators adopted a number of new measures dealing with probate court, trusts and especially guardianship and conservatorship matters. Most of the bills passed by the legislature are still awaiting the Governor’s signature, but all are expected to be signed and to become law on July 20, 2011 (except that at least one of the new laws will be delayed until December 31, 2011). Among the ones affecting our clients:

House Bill 2211. This new law clarifies that some guardians have the power to admit their wards to inpatient mental health treatment. That authority has long existed, but has been difficult to actually implement. The new law aims to make it easier for guardians, and to clarify that the guardian also has the authority to consent to continuing medical treatment during and after admission. As was the case before the new law, this kind of authority requires a special court proceeding at the time of the guardianship hearing (or later, if mental health issues arise), and the mental health authority has to be renewed every year.

House Bill 2402. Two apparently unrelated issues are addressed in this new bill. First, the legislature has created a procedure for suspension of the driving privileges for someone who has had a guardian appointed. Second, this new law inserts a relatively simple way of appointing a guardian and/or conservator — at least initially — for the subject of a civil commitment proceeding. Under prior law both issues were unclear, leading to the oddity that the judge who heard extensive testimony about a patient’s mental illness and need for a guardian and/or conservator could do nothing about that need. Similarly, the ability of the court to suspend a ward’s right to drive had been uncertain, though prior law implied that the court might have that power.

House Bill 2403. Arizona’s legislature adopted the Arizona Trust Code (a version of the Uniform Trust Code), after a couple of false starts, three years ago. Each year since then the legislature has been asked to tinker with the provisions, and it has consistently agreed. This year’s technical corrections are mostly minor, and hard to work up much excitement about — but they are improvements.

House Bill 2424. Though this bill started life as a comprehensive revision of guardianship and conservatorship, it concluded its legislative odyssey as a stripped-down version. As adopted, it simply creates a Probate Advisory Panel to address needed improvements in the guardianship and conservatorship process. The Panel will include two guardians (of a child or sibling), two conservators (of a parent), one public fiduciary, one private fiduciary, one attorney, one judge and a clerk of court.

Senate Bill 1081. Arizona has long allowed you to name a guardian for your minor children in your will, and to let that person be appointed in a summary proceeding if no one objects. This new law permits a similar proceeding for your incapacitated spouse or adult child. The bill spells out a mechanism for lodging the nomination after your death, and requires notice to the allegedly incapacitated spouse or child. If they do not object, the guardianship can issue automatically.

Senate Bill 1499. This new legislation is the most far-reaching of the bills listed here. It was adopted in response to a series of articles in Phoenix-area newspapers about alleged abuses and huge fees in guardianship and conservatorship proceedings. Of the bills listed here, this is the only one which does not become effective on July 20 — it takes effect on December 31, 2011, to give practitioners some time to figure out what changes will need to be made. Among the provisions of Senate Bill 1499:

• Several changes attempt to address abuse of the legal process. Arbitration is encouraged and can be required. Repetitive filings can be sanctioned. In general terms, the losing party in a contested proceeding can be assessed costs and attorneys fees to be paid to the ward or estate.
• Any guardian, conservator, or attorney who intends to seek payment from the ward’s estate will need to provide a description of how the fee will be calculated. That information must be provided with the first filing in the proceeding. Any billing must be given to the conservator within four months of the work being done or the fees will be deemed waived.
• Wards will now have the right to request a new guardian or conservator, and the court must approve the change if it is in the ward’s best interest. A change of guardian or conservator does not require a finding that the current fiduciary has done anything wrong — this provision permits the change based on the ward’s wishes rather than misbehavior of the fiduciary. Any other interested person (a family member, for instance) may also request the change, with the same result.
• The ward’s right to name his or her own choice of guardian and/or conservator is strengthened. The person named in a power of attorney, for instance, should ordinarily be one of the highest-priority candidates for appointment, unless there is evidence that that person has acted inappropriately.
• As before, a conservator must file an inventory of the protected person’s assets. Now the conservator must attach a consumer credit report to that inventory.
• The subject of a conservatorship and other interested persons can now request that the conservator let them review financial and billing records as often as monthly.

In addition, Senate Bill 1499 makes a number of other, less significant, changes. Fiduciaries and their attorneys, and anyone involved in a contested guardianship or conservatorship proceeding, needs to review the new law to see how it will affect new and existing proceedings, and what changes need to be made in reporting and practices.