SB 302

Abstract

Guardianship; petitions; appointment. Clarifies that a community services board and any other local or state governmental agency may file a petition for the appointment of a guardian or conservator of an incapacitated person. The bill also specifies that a guardian need not be appointed for the purposes of making a health care decision when such decision is made pursuant to and within the scope of the Health Care Decisions Act. Finally, the bill requires the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to convene a work group to consider issues related to (i) the care of adults with permanent disabilities that render them incapable of making informed decisions about their own care and (ii) potential changes to guardianship requirements to make it easier for parents to care for their adult children with such disabilities.

Guardianship; petitions; appointment. Clarifies that a community services board and any other local or state governmental agency may file a petition for the appointment of a guardian or conservator of an incapacitated person. The bill also specifies that a guardian need not be appointed for the purposes of making a health care decision when such decision is made pursuant to the Health Care Decisions Act. Finally, the bill requires the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to convene a work group to consider issues related to (i) the care of adults with permanent disabilities that render them incapable of making informed decisions about their own care and (ii) potential changes to guardianship requirements to make it easier for parents to care for their adult children with such disabilities.

Natural guardianship of permanently incapacitatedpersons. Provides that the parents are the natural guardiansof an incapacitated person who was deemed permanently incapacitatedby a licensed physician prior to his eighteenth birthday and thatin such cases no petition for the appointment of a guardian or conservatorneed be filed.