By Maxey                                              H.B. No. 2716
         77R3972 CLG-F                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to an application for the appointment of a guardian for
 1-3     certain incapacitated minors.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1. Section 682A(a), Texas Probate Code, is amended to
 1-6     read as follows:
 1-7           (a)  If a minor is a person who, because of incapacity, will
 1-8     require a guardianship after the ward is no longer a minor, a
 1-9     person may file an application under Section 682 of this code for
1-10     the appointment of a guardian of the person or [and/or] the estate,
1-11     or both, of the proposed ward not earlier than the 180th [60th] day
1-12     before the proposed ward's 18th birthday.  If the application is
1-13     heard before the proposed ward's 18th birthday, a guardianship
1-14     created under this section may not take effect and the person
1-15     appointed guardian may not give a bond or take the oath as required
1-16     under Section 700 or 702 of this code until the proposed ward's
1-17     18th birthday.
1-18           SECTION 2. Section 701, Texas Probate Code, is amended to
1-19     read as follows:
1-20           Sec. 701.  TIME FOR TAKING OATH AND GIVING BOND. Except as
1-21     provided by Section 682A(a) of this code, the [The] oath of a
1-22     guardian may be taken and subscribed, or the bond of a guardian may
1-23     be given and approved, at any time before the expiration of the
1-24     20th day after the date of the order granting letters of
 2-1     guardianship, or before the letters have been revoked for a failure
 2-2     to qualify within the time allowed.  An oath may be taken before
 2-3     any person authorized to administer oaths under the laws of this
 2-4     state.
 2-5           SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001, and
 2-6     applies only to an application for the appointment of a guardian
 2-7     filed on or after that date.  An application for the appointment of
 2-8     a guardian filed before September 1, 2001, is governed by the law
 2-9     in effect on the date the application was filed, and the former law
2-10     is continued in effect for that purpose.