By Naishtat H.B. No. 3630
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to guardianships for incapacitated persons.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 531.125, Government Code, is amended to
1-5 read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 531.125. GRANTS. The commission by rule may award
1-7 grants to:
1-8 (1) a local guardianship program; and
1-9 (2) a local legal guardianship program to enable
1-10 low-income family members and friends to have legal representation
1-11 in court if they are willing and able to be appointed guardians of
1-12 proposed wards who are indigent [center to establish local
1-13 volunteer guardianship programs].
1-14 SECTION 2. Section 697, Texas Probate Code, is amended by
1-15 amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (e) to read as
1-16 follows:
1-17 (a) A private professional guardian must apply annually to
1-18 the clerk of the county having venue over the proceeding for the
1-19 appointment of a guardian for certification. The application must
1-20 include a sworn statement containing the following information
1-21 concerning a private professional guardian or each [a] person who
1-22 represents or plans to represent the interests of a ward as a
1-23 guardian on behalf of the private professional guardian:
1-24 (1) educational background and professional
2-1 experience;
2-2 (2) three or more professional references;
2-3 (3) the names of all of the wards the private
2-4 professional guardian or person is or will be serving as a
2-5 guardian;
2-6 (4) the aggregate fair market value of the property of
2-7 all wards that is being or will be managed by the private
2-8 professional guardian or person;
2-9 (5) place of residence, business address, and business
2-10 telephone number; and
2-11 (6) whether the private professional guardian or
2-12 person has ever been removed as a guardian by the court or resigned
2-13 as a guardian in a particular case, and, if so, a description of
2-14 the circumstances causing the removal or resignation, and the style
2-15 of the suit, the docket number, and the court having jurisdiction
2-16 over the proceeding.
2-17 (e) Not later than February 1 of each year, the clerk shall
2-18 submit to the Health and Human Services Commission the names and
2-19 business addresses of private professional guardians who have
2-20 satisfied the certification requirements under this section during
2-21 the preceding year.
2-22 SECTION 3. Section 698(a), Texas Probate Code, is amended to
2-23 read as follows:
2-24 (a) The clerk of the county having venue over the proceeding
2-25 for the appointment of a guardian shall obtain criminal history
2-26 record information that is maintained by the Department of Public
2-27 Safety or the Federal Bureau of Investigation identification
3-1 division relating to:
3-2 (1) a private professional guardian;
3-3 (2) each [or a] person who represents or plans to
3-4 represent the interests of a ward as a guardian on behalf of the
3-5 private professional guardian; or
3-6 (3) each person employed by a private professional
3-7 guardian who will:
3-8 (A) have personal contact with a ward or
3-9 proposed ward;
3-10 (B) exercise control over and manage a ward's
3-11 estate; or
3-12 (C) perform any duties with respect to the
3-13 management of a ward's estate.
3-14 SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act to Sections
3-15 697(a) and 698(a), Texas Probate Code, apply only to an application
3-16 for certification that is filed on or after the effective date of
3-17 this Act. An application for certification that is filed before
3-18 the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect
3-19 when the application was filed, and the former law is continued in
3-20 effect for that purpose.
3-21 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
3-22 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
3-23 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-24 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-25 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-26 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.