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House Bill 3080 |
House Author: Hartnett |
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Effective: 9-1-09 |
Senate Sponsor: Watson |
House Bill 3080 amends provisions of the Texas Probate Code regarding guardianship compensation and trusts for the management of guardianship funds. The bill authorizes, rather than requires, a court to set the compensation for services rendered by a guardian or temporary guardian of a ward's estate in an amount not exceeding five percent of the ward's gross income. It allows a court to authorize payment in an amount the court finds reasonable of estimated quarterly compensation to a guardian before the guardian files an annual or final accounting of the estate if the court finds that delaying compensation until the accounting is filed would create a hardship for the guardian. Once the accounting is filed, the court can reduce or eliminate compensation to the guardian if the court finds that the guardian received excess compensation, has not adequately performed the required duties, or has been removed for cause. The bill also establishes that an attorney who provides guardianship and legal services in connection with a guardianship is not entitled to compensation for the services unless the attorney files with the court a detailed description that identifies the services.
Previous law authorized a court to appoint a person other than a financial institution to serve as trustee of a management trust only if the court made certain findings, depending on the amount of the trust's principal. House Bill 3080 authorizes the court to appoint an individual, a nonprofit corporation, or a guardianship program as a trustee instead of a financial institution unless the principal of the trust is more than $150,000. At that value, the court must first find that the applicant for the creation of the trust has been unable to find a financial institution in the geographic area willing to serve as a trustee. If the court determines that it is in the ward's or incapacitated person's best interests, the bill authorizes the court to order the transfer of all property in a management trust to a subaccount of a pooled trust and provides for the governance of the subaccount. The bill also authorizes a person to apply to the court for the establishment of a pooled trust subaccount for the benefit of a minor, disabled person, or other incapacitated person. It sets forth forms that may be used to designate a guardian for a person, the person's estate, or the person's children in the event that a guardian is needed.