1-1 By: Naishtat (Senate Sponsor - Wentworth) H.B. No. 3630
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 11, 1999;
1-3 May 12, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on
1-4 Jurisprudence; May 14, 1999, reported favorably by the following
1-5 vote: Yeas 3, Nays 0; May 14, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to guardianships for incapacitated persons.
1-9 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-10 SECTION 1. Section 531.125, Government Code, is amended to
1-11 read as follows:
1-12 Sec. 531.125. GRANTS. The commission by rule may award
1-13 grants to:
1-14 (1) a local guardianship program; and
1-15 (2) a local legal guardianship program to enable
1-16 low-income family members and friends to have legal representation
1-17 in court if they are willing and able to be appointed guardians of
1-18 proposed wards who are indigent [center to establish local
1-19 volunteer guardianship programs].
1-20 SECTION 2. Section 697, Texas Probate Code, is amended by
1-21 amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (e) to read as
1-22 follows:
1-23 (a) A private professional guardian must apply annually to
1-24 the clerk of the county having venue over the proceeding for the
1-25 appointment of a guardian for certification. The application must
1-26 include a sworn statement containing the following information
1-27 concerning a private professional guardian or each [a] person who
1-28 represents or plans to represent the interests of a ward as a
1-29 guardian on behalf of the private professional guardian:
1-30 (1) educational background and professional
1-31 experience;
1-32 (2) three or more professional references;
1-33 (3) the names of all of the wards the private
1-34 professional guardian or person is or will be serving as a
1-35 guardian;
1-36 (4) the aggregate fair market value of the property of
1-37 all wards that is being or will be managed by the private
1-38 professional guardian or person;
1-39 (5) place of residence, business address, and business
1-40 telephone number; and
1-41 (6) whether the private professional guardian or
1-42 person has ever been removed as a guardian by the court or resigned
1-43 as a guardian in a particular case, and, if so, a description of
1-44 the circumstances causing the removal or resignation, and the style
1-45 of the suit, the docket number, and the court having jurisdiction
1-46 over the proceeding.
1-47 (e) Not later than February 1 of each year, the clerk shall
1-48 submit to the Health and Human Services Commission the names and
1-49 business addresses of private professional guardians who have
1-50 satisfied the certification requirements under this section during
1-51 the preceding year.
1-52 SECTION 3. Section 698(a), Texas Probate Code, is amended to
1-53 read as follows:
1-54 (a) The clerk of the county having venue over the proceeding
1-55 for the appointment of a guardian shall obtain criminal history
1-56 record information that is maintained by the Department of Public
1-57 Safety or the Federal Bureau of Investigation identification
1-58 division relating to:
1-59 (1) a private professional guardian;
1-60 (2) each [or a] person who represents or plans to
1-61 represent the interests of a ward as a guardian on behalf of the
1-62 private professional guardian; or
1-63 (3) each person employed by a private professional
1-64 guardian who will:
2-1 (A) have personal contact with a ward or
2-2 proposed ward;
2-3 (B) exercise control over and manage a ward's
2-4 estate; or
2-5 (C) perform any duties with respect to the
2-6 management of a ward's estate.
2-7 SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act to Sections
2-8 697(a) and 698(a), Texas Probate Code, apply only to an application
2-9 for certification that is filed on or after the effective date of
2-10 this Act. An application for certification that is filed before
2-11 the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect
2-12 when the application was filed, and the former law is continued in
2-13 effect for that purpose.
2-14 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-15 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
2-16 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-17 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-18 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-19 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-20 * * * * *