HB 407 2025
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to guardianship of property ; amending 2
s. 744.367, F.S.; requiring guardians of the property 3
to file quarterly, rather than annual, accounting 4
reports by specified dates; authorizing the court to 5
set a different quarterly schedule; requiring the 6
guardian to mail a copy of each quarte rly accounting 7
to the ward's next of kin; requiring the first 8
quarterly accounting period to end within a certain 9
timeframe after letters of guardianship are issued; 10
amending s. 744.3678, F.S.; requiring guardians of the 11
property to file quarterly, rather than annual, 12
accounting reports; requiring the guardian to mail a 13
copy of each quarterly accounting to the ward's next 14
of kin; amending s. 744.3679, F.S.; authorizing 15
certain guardians to file each monthly statement of 16
the ward's account from the ward's fi nancial 17
institution for the preceding quarter; amending s. 18
744.381, F.S.; requiring the court to appoint an 19
appraiser to appraise the ward's property; requiring 20
all documentation, including bids submitted to 21
purchase such property, from the appraiser to be 22
retained in the court file; amending s. 744.474, F.S.; 23
requiring the court to refer certain guardians to the 24
Department of Law Enforcement for criminal 25
HB 407 2025
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
investigation; amending ss. 393.12, 744.368, and 26
744.444 F.S.; conforming provisions to changes made by 27
the act; providing an effective date. 28
29
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 30
31
Section 1. Subsection (2), paragraph (a) of subsection 32
(3), and subsection (6) of section 744.367, Florida Statutes, 33
are amended to read: 34
744.367 Duty to file annual guardianship report. — 35
(2) Unless the court requires or authorizes filing on a 36
fiscal-year basis, Each guardian of the property shall file with 37
the court an annual accounting on a quarterly basis or before 38
April 1 of each year . The annual accounting must cover the 39
preceding 3 months and be filed on or before April 1, July 1, 40
October 1, and January 1 each year calendar year. If The court 41
may require a guardian of the property to file the accounting on 42
a different quarterly schedule, as lo ng as the guardian is still 43
required to file accountings at least four times each year. The 44
guardian must mail a copy of each quarterly accounting to the 45
ward's next of kin authorizes or directs filing on a fiscal -year 46
basis, the annual accounting must be filed on or before the 47
first day of the fourth month after the end of the fiscal year . 48
(3)(a) The annual guardianship report of a guardian of the 49
property must consist of each quarterly an annual accounting, 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
and the annual guardianship report of a guardi an of the person 51
must consist of an annual guardianship plan. The annual 52
guardianship report of a guardian of the property and the annual 53
guardianship report of a guardian of the person must both 54
include a declaration of all remuneration received by the 55
guardian from any source for services rendered to or on behalf 56
of the ward. As used in this paragraph, the term "remuneration" 57
means any payment or other benefit made directly or indirectly, 58
overtly or covertly, or in cash or in kind to the guardian. 59
(6) Notwithstanding any other requirement of this section 60
or unless otherwise directed by the court, the guardian of the 61
property may file the first annual accounting on either a 62
fiscal-year or calendar-year basis. Unless the court directs 63
otherwise, the guardian shall notify the court as to the 64
guardian's filing intention within 30 days from the date the 65
guardian was issued the letter of guardianship. all subsequent 66
annual accountings must be filed on the same accounting schedule 67
period as the first year of quarterly accountings annual 68
accounting unless the court authorizes or directs otherwise . The 69
first quarterly accounting period must end within 3 months 1 70
year after the end of the month in which the letters of 71
guardianship were issued to the guardian of the property. 72
Section 2. Subsections (1), (2), and (3) of section 73
744.3678, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 74
744.3678 Quarterly Annual accounting.— 75
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(1) Each guardian of the property must file an annual 76
accounting with the court on a quarterly basis and mail a copy 77
of each quarterly accounting to the ward's next of kin . 78
(2) The quarterly annual accounting must include: 79
(a) A full and correct account of the receipts and 80
disbursements of all of the ward's property over which the 81
guardian has control and a statement of the ward's property on 82
hand at the end of each the accounting period. This paragraph 83
does not apply to any property or any trust of which the ward is 84
a beneficiary but which is not under the control or 85
administration of the guardian. 86
(b) A copy of the statements annual or year-end statement 87
of all of the ward's cash accounts from each of the institutions 88
where the cash is deposited. 89
(4) The guardian shall pay from the ward's estate to the 90
clerk of the circuit court a fee based upo n the following 91
graduated fee schedule, upon the filing of the quarterly 92
accounting annual financial return , for the auditing of the 93
quarterly accounting return: 94
(a) For estates with a value of $25,000 or less the clerk 95
of the court may charge a fee of up to $20, from which the clerk 96
shall remit $5 to the Department of Revenue for deposit into the 97
General Revenue Fund. 98
(b) For estates with a value of more than $25,000 up to 99
and including $100,000 the clerk of the court may charge a fee 100
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of up to $85, from which the clerk shall remit $10 to the 101
Department of Revenue for deposit into the General Revenue Fund. 102
(c) For estates with a value of more than $100,000 up to 103
and including $500,000 the clerk of the court may charge a fee 104
of up to $170, from which t he clerk shall remit $20 to the 105
Department of Revenue for deposit into the General Revenue Fund. 106
(d) For estates with a value in excess of $500,000 the 107
clerk of the court may charge a fee of up to $250, from which 108
the clerk shall remit $25 to the Departm ent of Revenue for 109
deposit into the General Revenue Fund. 110
111
Upon petition by the guardian, the court may waive the auditing 112
fee upon a showing of insufficient funds in the ward's estate. 113
Any guardian unable to pay the auditing fee may petition the 114
court for a waiver of the fee. The court may waive the fee after 115
it has reviewed the documentation filed by the guardian in 116
support of the waiver. 117
Section 3. Subsections (1) and (3) of section 744.3679, 118
Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 119
744.3679 Simplified accounting procedures in certain 120
cases.— 121
(1) In a guardianship of property, when all property of 122
the estate is in designated depositories under s. 69.031 and the 123
only transactions that occur in that account are interest 124
accrual, deposits from a settle ment, or financial institution 125
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service charges, the guardian may elect to file an accounting 126
consisting both of the following of: 127
(a) The original or a certified copy of each monthly 128
statement the year-end statement of the ward's account from the 129
financial institution for the preceding quarter. ; and 130
(b) A statement by the guardian under penalty of perjury 131
that the guardian has custody and control of the ward's property 132
as shown in the monthly statements year-end statement. 133
(3) The guardian need not be represented by an attorney in 134
order to file the quarterly accountings annual accounting 135
allowed by subsection (1). 136
Section 4. Paragraph (f) of subsection (1) of section 137
744.368, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 138
744.368 Responsibilities of the c lerk of the circuit 139
court.— 140
(1) In addition to the duty to serve as the custodian of 141
the guardianship files, the clerk shall review each initial and 142
annual guardianship report to ensure that it contains 143
information about the ward addressing, as appropria te: 144
(f) The initial verified inventory or the quarterly 145
accountings annual accounting. 146
Section 5. Section 744.381, Florida Statutes, is amended 147
to read: 148
744.381 Appraisals. —When The court must appoint an 149
appraiser deems it necessary, appraisers may be appointed to 150
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appraise the property of the ward that is subject to the 151
guardianship. All documentation provided to the guardian by the 152
appraiser must be retained in the court file. If the property of 153
the ward is sold, all bids submitted to purchase such property 154
must be retained in the court file. 155
Section 6. Subsection (16) of section 744.444, Florida 156
Statutes, is amended to read: 157
744.444 Power of guardian without court approval. —Without 158
obtaining court approval, a plenary guardian of the property, or 159
a limited guardian of the property within the powers granted by 160
the order appointing the guardian or an approved annual or 161
amended guardianship report, may: 162
(16) Pay or reimburse costs incurred and reasonable fees 163
or compensation to persons, includin g attorneys, employed by the 164
guardian pursuant to subsection (13) from the assets of the 165
guardianship estate, subject to obtaining court approval of the 166
quarterly accountings annual accounting. 167
Section 7. Section 744.474, Florida Statutes, is amended 168
to read: 169
744.474 Reasons for removal of guardian. — 170
(1) A guardian may be removed for any of the following 171
reasons, and the removal is shall be in addition to any other 172
penalties prescribed by law: 173
(a)(1) Fraud in obtaining her or his appointment. 174
(b)(2) Failure to discharge her or his duties. 175
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(c)(3) Abuse of her or his powers. 176
(d)(4) An incapacity or illness, including substance 177
abuse, which renders the guardian incapable of discharging her 178
or his duties. 179
(e)(5) Failure to comply with any order of the court. 180
(f)(6) Failure to return schedules of property sold or 181
accounts of sales of property or to produce and exhibit the 182
ward's assets when so required. 183
(g)(7) The wasting, embezzlement, or other mismanagement 184
of the ward's property. 185
(h)(8) Failure to give bond or security for any purpose 186
when required by the court or failure to file with the annual 187
guardianship plan the evidence required by s. 744.351 that the 188
sureties on her or his bond are alive and solvent. 189
(i)(9) Conviction of a felo ny. 190
(j)(10) Appointment of a receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, 191
or liquidator for any corporate guardian. 192
(k)(11) Development of a conflict of interest between the 193
ward and the guardian. 194
(l)(12) Having been found guilty of, regardless of 195
adjudication, or entered a plea of nolo contendere or guilty to, 196
any offense prohibited under s. 435.04 or similar statute of 197
another jurisdiction. 198
(m)(13) A material failure to comply with the guardianship 199
report by the guardian. 200
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(n)(14) A failure to comply with th e rules for timely 201
filing the initial and annual guardianship reports. 202
(o)(15) A failure to fulfill the guardianship education 203
requirements. 204
(p)(16) The improper management of the ward's assets. 205
(q)(17) A material change in the ward's financial 206
circumstances such that the guardian is no longer qualified to 207
manage the finances of the ward, or the previous degree of 208
management is no longer required. 209
(r)(18) After appointment, the guardian becomes a 210
disqualified person as set forth in s. 744.309(3). 211
(s)(19) Upon a showing by a person who did not receive 212
notice of the petition for adjudication of incapacity, when such 213
notice is required, or who is related to the ward within the 214
relationships specified for nonresident relatives in ss. 215
744.309(2) and 744.312(2) and who has not previously been 216
rejected by the court as a guardian that the current guardian is 217
not a family member and paragraph (t) subsection (20) applies. 218
(t)(20) Upon a showing that removal of the current 219
guardian is in the best interest of the ward. In determining 220
whether a guardian who is related by blood or marriage to the 221
ward is to be removed, there shall be a rebuttable presumption 222
that the guardian is acting in the best interests of the ward. 223
(u)(21) A bad faith failure to submit gu ardianship records 224
during the audit pursuant to s. 744.368. 225
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(2) If the court removes a guardian who is an attorney 226
licensed by The Florida Bar based on paragraph (c), paragraph 227
(g), or paragraph (p), or upon a finding by the court that the 228
guardian is misappropriating the assets or property of the ward, 229
the court must refer the guardian to the Department of Law 230
Enforcement for criminal investigation. 231
Section 8. Subsection (10) of section 393.12, Florida 232
Statutes, is amended to read: 233
393.12 Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. — 234
(10) POWERS AND DUTIES OF GUARDIAN ADVOCATE. —A guardian 235
advocate for a person with a developmental disability shall be a 236
person or corporation qualified to act as guardian, with the 237
same powers, duties, and responsibil ities required of a guardian 238
under chapter 744 or those defined by court order under this 239
section. However, a guardian advocate may not be required to 240
file a quarterly an annual accounting under s. 744.3678 if the 241
court determines that the person with a de velopmental disability 242
receives income only from Social Security benefits and the 243
guardian advocate is the person's representative payee for the 244
benefits. 245
Section 9. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 246