PMWJ C.S.H.B. 1316 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS JUDICIAL AFFAIRS C.S.H.B. 1316 By: Naishtat 3-26-97 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND A guardian of an estate must invest a ward's assets in accordance with the Texas Probate Code. While some investments are authorized to be made without court authority, other investments require an application to be approved by the Court before the investment can be made. Currently, there is no means by which a guardian of a minor can invest in our state's Texas Tomorrow Fund. The Texas Tomorrow Fund, as a way to directly provide for a ward's future education, would be a welcome investment opportunity for guardians of minor's estates and should be allowed with permission of the probate court. PURPOSE The purpose of this bill is to enable a guardian of the estate to file an application with the court for the purpose of investing the ward's assets into the Texas Tomorrow Fund. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1 amends Section 856(a) of the Probate code to allow a guardian to invest a ward's assets in the Texas Tomorrow Fund. SECTION 2 allows a court to modify any guardianship in effect on September 1, 1997, to invest in accordance with SECTION 1. SECTION 3. Effective date. Application of act. SECTION 4. Emergency clause. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE Section 1 in the substitute capitalized the letters "T" and "F" in "tomorrow" and "fund" respectively. These were not capitalized in the original.