1-1     By:  Naishtat (Senate Sponsor - Wentworth)            H.B. No. 3338
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House April 26, 1999;
 1-3     April 27, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on
 1-4     Jurisprudence; May 11, 1999, reported favorably by the following
 1-5     vote:  Yeas 3, Nays 0; May 11, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to a waiver of the bond requirement for certain guardians
 1-9     of children.
1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11           SECTION 1.  Section 702(c), Texas Probate Code, is amended to
1-12     read as follows:
1-13           (c)  When a will that is made by a surviving parent and is
1-14     probated in a court in this state or a written declaration that is
1-15     made by a surviving parent directs that the guardian appointed in
1-16     the will or declaration serve without bond, the court finding that
1-17     the person is qualified shall issue letters of guardianship of the
1-18     person to the person named to be appointed guardian in the will or
1-19     declaration without requirement of bond.  The court may not waive
1-20     the requirement of a bond for the guardian of the estate of a ward,
1-21     regardless of whether a surviving parent's will or declaration
1-22     directs the court to waive the bond.
1-23           SECTION 2.  Section 677A(e), Texas Probate Code, is amended
1-24     to read as follows:
1-25           (e)  A declaration and affidavit may be in any form adequate
1-26     to clearly indicate the declarant's intention to designate a
1-27     guardian for the declarant's child.  The following form may, but
1-28     need not, be used:
1-29                 DECLARATION OF APPOINTMENT OF GUARDIAN FOR
1-30                    MY CHILDREN IN THE EVENT OF MY DEATH
1-31           I, __________, make this Declaration to appoint as guardian
1-32     for my child or children, listed as follows, in the event of my
1-33     death:
1-34     ________________________________   ________________________________
1-35     ________________________________   ________________________________
1-36     ________________________________   ________________________________
1-37     (add blanks as appropriate)
1-38           I designate __________ to serve as guardian of the person of
1-39     my (child or children), __________ as first alternate guardian of
1-40     the person of my (child or children), __________ as second
1-41     alternate guardian of the person of my (child or children), and
1-42     __________ as third alternate guardian of the person of my (child
1-43     or children).
1-44           I direct that the guardian of the person of my (child or
1-45     children) serve (with or without) bond.
1-46           (If applicable) I designate __________ to serve as guardian
1-47     of the estate of my (child or children), __________ as first
1-48     alternate guardian of the estate of my (child or children),
1-49     __________ as second alternate guardian of the estate of my (child
1-50     or children), and __________ as third alternate guardian of the
1-51     estate of my (child or children).
1-52           If any guardian or alternate guardian dies, does not qualify,
1-53     or resigns, the next named alternate guardian becomes guardian of
1-54     my (child or children).
1-55     Signed this __________ day of __________, 19___.
1-56     ________________________________
1-57     Declarant
1-58     ________________________________   ________________________________
1-59     Witness                            Witness
1-60           SELF-PROVING AFFIDAVIT
1-61           Before me, the undersigned authority, on this date personally
1-62     appeared the declarant, and ____________ and ____________ as
1-63     witnesses, and all being duly sworn, the declarant said that the
1-64     above instrument was his or her Declaration of Appointment of
 2-1     Guardian for the Declarant's Children in the Event of Declarant's
 2-2     Death and that the declarant had made and executed it for the
 2-3     purposes expressed in the declaration.  The witnesses declared to
 2-4     me that they are each 14 years of age or older, that they saw the
 2-5     declarant sign the declaration, that they signed the declaration as
 2-6     witnesses, and that the declarant appeared to them to be of sound
 2-7     mind.
 2-8     ______________________________
 2-9     Declarant
2-10     ________________________________   ________________________________
2-11     Affiant                            Affiant
2-12           Subscribed and sworn to before me by the above named
2-13     declarant and affiants on this ____ day of __________, 19___.
2-14                             ___________________________________________
2-15                             Notary Public in and for the State of Texas
2-16                             My Commission expires:  
2-17                             ___________________________________________
2-18           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and the
2-19     change in law made by this Act applies only to a written
2-20     declaration for the appointment of a guardian that is executed on
2-21     or after the effective date of this Act.  A written declaration for
2-22     the appointment of a guardian that is executed before the effective
2-23     date of this Act is governed by the law as it existed immediately
2-24     before the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in
2-25     effect for that purpose.
2-26           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-27     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-28     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-29     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-30     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-31                                  * * * * *