Amend HB 2900 (senate committee printing) by adding the following appropriately numbered SECTIONS to the bill and renumbering subsequent SECTIONS as appropriate:

SECTION ___.  Section 642, Texas Probate Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:

(a)  Except as provided by Subsections (a-1) and [Subsection] (b) of this section, any person has the right to commence any guardianship proceeding, including a proceeding for complete restoration of a ward's capacity or modification of a ward's guardianship, or to appear and contest any guardianship proceeding or the appointment of a particular person as guardian.

SECTION ___.  Section 665A, Texas Probate Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 665A.  PAYMENT FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. The court shall order the payment of a fee in an amount set by the court that is fair and just as compensation to the attorneys, mental health professionals, and interpreters appointed under this chapter, as applicable, to be taxed as costs in the case.  The court may allocate attorney's fees taxed as costs under this section among the parties as the court finds is fair and just. If after examining the proposed ward's assets the court determines the proposed ward is unable to pay for costs allocated to the proposed ward for services provided by an attorney, a mental health professional, or an interpreter appointed under this chapter, as applicable, the county is responsible for those costs [the cost of those services].

SECTION ___.  Section 665B, Texas Probate Code, as amended by Chapters 314 (H.B. 587) and 930 (H.B. 3080), Acts of the 81st Legislature, Regular Session, 2009, is reenacted and amended to read as follows:

Sec. 665B.  PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY'S FEES TO CERTAIN ATTORNEYS. (a)  A court that creates a guardianship or creates a management trust under Section 867 of this code for a ward under this chapter, on request of a person who filed an application to be appointed guardian of the proposed ward, an application for the appointment of another suitable person as guardian of the proposed ward, or an application for the creation of the management trust, may authorize the payment of reasonable and necessary attorney's fees, as determined by the court, in amounts the court considers fair and just, to an attorney who represents the person who filed the application at the application hearing, regardless of whether the person is appointed the ward's guardian or whether a management trust is created, from:

(1)  subject to Subsection (a-1) of this section, the parties to the guardianship proceeding, allocated as the court finds is fair and just; or

(2)  subject to Subsection (a-1) of this section, available funds of the [ward's estate or] management trust, if created.

(a-1)  The court may authorize amounts allocated to the ward's estate under Subsection (a)(1) of this section or amounts to be paid from available funds of the management trust as provided by Subsection (a)(2) of this section to instead be paid from the county treasury,[; or

[(2)]  subject to Subsection (c) of this section, [the county treasury] if:

(1) [(A)]  the ward's estate or[, if created,] management trust[,] is insufficient to pay [for] the amounts [services provided by the attorney]; and

(2) [(B)]  funds in the county treasury are budgeted for that purpose.

(b)  The court may not authorize attorney's fees under this section unless the court finds that the applicant acted in good faith and for just cause in the filing and prosecution of the application.

(c)  The court may authorize the payment of attorney's fees from the county treasury under Subsection (a-1) [(a)] of this section only if the court is satisfied that the attorney to whom the fees will be paid has not received, and is not seeking, payment for the services described by that subsection from any other source.

SECTION ___.  Subsection (a), Section 669, Texas Probate Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this section or Section 665A or 665B(a) of this code, in a guardianship matter, the cost of the proceeding, including the cost of the guardian ad litem or court visitor, shall be set in an amount the court considers fair and just and shall be paid out of the guardianship estate, or, if the estate is insufficient to pay for the cost of the proceeding, the cost of the proceeding shall be paid out of the county treasury, and the judgment of the court shall be issued accordingly.

SECTION ___.  Section 761, Texas Probate Code, is amended by adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:

SECTION ___.  Subsections (a), (c), and (d), Section 762, Texas Probate Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a)  Not later than the 30th [10th] day after the date the court signs the order of removal, a guardian [personal representative] who is removed under Section 761(a)(6) [Subsection (a)(6)] or (7)[, Section 761,] of this code may file an application with the court for a hearing to determine whether the guardian [personal representative] should be reinstated.

(c)  The court shall hold a hearing on an application for reinstatement under this section as soon as practicable after the application is filed, but not later than the 60th day after the date the court signed the order of removal. If, at the conclusion of the [a] hearing [under this section], the court is satisfied by a preponderance of the evidence that the applicant did not engage in the conduct that directly led to the applicant's removal, the court shall set aside an order appointing a successor guardian [representative], if any, and shall enter an order reinstating the applicant as guardian [personal representative] of the ward or estate.

(d)  If the court sets aside the appointment of a successor guardian [representative] under this section, the court may require the successor guardian [representative] to prepare and file, under oath, an accounting of the estate and to detail the disposition the successor has made of the property of the estate.

SECTION ___.  The changes in law made by this Act to Section 642, Texas Probate Code, apply to a guardianship proceeding that is pending or commenced on or after the effective date of this Act.

SECTION ___.  The changes in law made by this Act to Sections 665A, 665B, and 669, Texas Probate Code, apply to a guardianship created before, on, or after the effective date of this Act.

SECTION ___.  The changes in law made by this Act to Sections 761 and 762, Texas Probate Code, apply only to a removal of a guardian ordered by a court on or after the effective date of this Act. A removal of a guardian ordered by a court before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the order was rendered, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.