2023 -- H 6067
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LC002216
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S TATE OF RHODE IS LAND
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023
____________
A N A C T
RELATING TO PROBATE PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE -- LIMITED GUARDIANSHIP
AND GUARDIANSHIP OF ADULTS
Introduced By: Representatives Cortvriend, Spears, Dawson, Carson, Shallcross Smith,
and Ajello
Date Introduced: March 03, 2023
Referred To: House Judiciary
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 33-15-47 of the General Laws in Chapter 33-15 entitled "Limited 1
Guardianship and Guardianship of Adults" is hereby amended to read as follows: 2
33-15-47. Forms. 3
The following forms shall be used for the purposes of this chapter: 4
STATE OF RHODE ISLAND PROBATE COURT OF THE 5
COUNTY OF _______________ ______________________ 6
No. _________________ 7
ESTATE OF ____________________________ 8
PERSONAL ESTATE ESTIMATED AT $________ CITY/TOWN OF 9
________________ 10
20 ____________ 11
PETITION FOR LIMITED GUARDIANSHIP 12
OR GUARDIANSHIP 13
______________________hereby petitions the Probate Court of the city/town of ______________ 14
Petitioner 15
to appoint a limited guardian/guardian for ______________ who currently resides at 16
________________________, in the city/town of __________________, and whose date of birth 17
Address 18
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is __________________. 1
Based upon an assessment conducted by ________________ on ______________, which 2
Date 3
functional assessment reflects the current level of functioning of ______________, it has been 4
Respondent 5
determined that _____________ lacks decision-making ability in one or more of the following 6
Respondent 7
areas as indicated: 8
____ health care 9
____ financial matters 10
____ residence 11
____ association 12
____ other 13
Regarding each area indicated, please describe the specific assistance needed: 14
________________________________________________________________________ 15
________________________________________________________________________ 16
________________________________________________________________________ 17
________________________________________________________________________ 18
________________________________________________________________________ 19
Indicate which of the following less restrictive alternatives to guardianship have been explored 20
and deemed inappropriate as indicated: 21
____ Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care 22
____ Living Will 23
____ Power of Attorney 24
____ Durable Power of Attorney 25
____ Trusts 26
____ Joint Property Arrangements 27
____ Representative Payee 28
____ Money Management 29
____ Single Court Transactions 30
____ Government Benefit and Social Service Programs 31
____ Housing Options 32
____ Supported Decision-Making, see chapter 66.13 of title 42 33
____ Other 34
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Please describe the basis for the determination that the alternative will not meet the needs of the 1
respondent for each alternative explored and deemed inappropriate: 2
________________________________________________________________________ 3
________________________________________________________________________ 4
________________________________________________________________________ 5
________________________________________________________________________ 6
________________________________________________________________________ 7
________________________________________________________________________ 8
________________________________________________________________________ 9
________________________________________________________________________ 10
________________________________________________________________________ 11
________________________________________________________________________ 12
________________________________________________________________________ 13
________________________________________________________________________ 14
________________________________________________________________________ 15
________________________________________________________________________ 16
________________________________________________________________________ 17
The following individual/agency is willing to serve as guardian: 18
________________________________________________________________________ 19
________________________________________________________________________ 20
________________________________________________________________________ 21
Upon information and belief the above individual/agency has: 22
□ No conflict of interest that would interfere with guardianship duties. 23
□ No criminal background that would interfere with guardianship duties. 24
□ The capacity to manage financial resources involved. 25
□ The ability to meet requirements of law and unique needs of individual. 26
□ Demonstrated willingness to undergo training. 27
The Respondent has the following heirs at law: 28
NAME: RESIDENCE: 29
________________________________________________________________________ 30
________________________________________________________________________ 31
________________________________________________________________________ 32
________________________________________________________________________ 33
________________________________________________________________________ 34
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___________________________________ 1
Signature 2
___________________________________ 3
Name4
___________________________________ 5
Address 6
__________________________________ 7
Telephone 8
Subscribed and sworn to before me this as to the truth of the above facts by ________ in ________ 9
on the ________day of ________, 20____. 10
__________________________________ 11
Notary Public 12
__________________________________ 13
Print Name 14
DECREE 15
__________________ __________________ 16
Dated PROBATE JUDGE 17
This notice should be served at once and returned to the clerk of the court. 18
NOTICE 19
STATE OF RHODE ISLAND 20
BY THE PROBATE COURT OF THE __________ OF ____________ 21
BY THE COUNTY OF ______________ AND STATE AFORESAID 22
To ________________________ 23
Estate or ______________ 24
Docket No. _____________ 25
GREETING: 26
A petition for Limited Guardianship/Guardianship has been filed in the Probate Court of the 27
city/town of _______________________. 28
_______________________________ has requested that the Probate Court appoint a limited 29
Petitioner 30
guardian/guardian for you. 31
A hearing regarding this Petition shall be held 32
On: ______________ 33
date 34
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At: _______________ 1
time 2
at the Probate Court for the town of ____________________________________________ . 3
______________________________________________________________________________ 4
Address 5
______________________________________________________________________________ 6
The Petition requests that the Probate Court consider the qualification of the following 7
individual/agency to serve as your limited guardian/guardian: 8
______________________________________________________________________________9
______________________________________________________________________________ 10
A guardian ad litem will be appointed by the Probate Court to visit you, explain the 11
process and inform you of your rights. 12
You have the right to attend the hearing to contest the petition, to request that the powers 13
of the guardian be limited or to object to the appointment of particular individual/agency limited 14
guardian/ guardian. If you wish to contest the petition, you have the right to be represented by an 15
attorney, at state expense, if you are indigent. 16
If the Petition is granted and a limited guardian/guardian is appointed, the Probate Court 17
may give the limited guardian/guardian the power to make decisions about one or more of the 18
following: 19
Your health care; your money; where you live; and with whom you associate. 20
Copies of this Notice will be mailed to: 21
The administrator of any care or treatment facility where you live or receive primary 22
services; your spouse, and heirs at law; any individual or entity known to petitioner to be regularly 23
supplying protection services to you. 24
CERTIFICATION OF SERVICE 25
I certify that I hand-delivered and read this Notice to __________________ on the 26
________ day of________, 20____. 27
___________________________________ 28
Signature 29
___________________________________ 30
Print Name 31
__________________________________ 32
Address 33
CERTIFICATION OF NOTICE 34
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I certify that, as required by Rhode Island General Laws § 33-15-17.1(e), I mailed a copy 1
of this Notice to the following persons, at the addresses listed, on the ________ day of ________, 2
20____. 3
__________________________________ 4
Signature 5
___________________________________ 6
Print Name 7
__________________________________ 8
Address 9
Subscribed and sworn to before me this ________ day of ________, 20____. 10
___________________________________ 11
Notary Public 12
WITNESS 13
Judge of the Probate Court of the ________ of ________ this ________ day of ________, 14
20____. 15
___________________________________ 16
Clerk 17
DECISION-MAKING ASSESSMENT TOOL 18
Name of Individual being assessed: Current Address: 19
______________________________ ______________________________ 20
______________________________ 21
Date of Birth: Permanent Address (if different): 22
________________________ _________________________ 23
_________________________ 24
Instructions for Completion 25
This document will be used by a Probate Court to determine whether to appoint a 26
guardian to assist this individual in some or all areas of decision-making. 27
This document has two parts. Please first complete the part which is right after these 28
instructions, titled Assessment. Then complete the second section, titled Summary. 29
To a physician completing this document: The individual's treating physician must 30
complete this document. If there is any information of which the treating physician completing 31
this document does not have direct knowledge, he or she is encouraged to make such inquiries of 32
such other persons as are necessary to complete the entire form. Those persons might include 33
other medical personnel such as nurses, or other persons such as family members or social service 34
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professionals who are acquainted with the individual. If the physician has received information 1
from others in completing the form, the names of those individuals must be listed on the 2
Summary. 3
To a non-physician completing this document: Professionals or other persons acquainted 4
with the individual being assessed may also complete this document. If there is information of 5
which a non-physician completing this document does not have knowledge, such non-physician 6
may either leave portions of the document blank, or also make inquiries or do such investigation 7
as is necessary to complete the entire document. Again, the names of any individual from whom 8
information is derived should be listed on the Summary. 9
The document must be signed and dated by the person completing it. It does not need to be 10
notarized. 11
A. BIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT 12
THE FOLLOWING IS BASED UPON A PHYSICAL EXAMINATION CONDUCTED BY ME 13
ON 14
__________________________ 15
(DATE) 16
1. DIAGNOSIS and PROGNOSIS: 17
________________________________________________________________________ 18
________________________________________________________________________ 19
________________________________________________________________________ 20
________________________________________________________________________ 21
________________________________________________________________________ 22
2. MEDICATION (PLEASE LIST): 23
________________________________________________________________________ 24
________________________________________________________________________ 25
________________________________________________________________________ 26
________________________________________________________________________ 27
________________________________________________________________________ 28
How do the above medications, if any, affect the individual's decision-making ability? Please 29
explain: 30
________________________________________________________________________ 31
________________________________________________________________________ 32
________________________________________________________________________ 33
________________________________________________________________________ 34
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________________________________________________________________________ 1
3. CURRENT NUTRITIONAL STATUS: 2
________________________________________________________________________ 3
________________________________________________________________________ 4
________________________________________________________________________ 5
________________________________________________________________________ 6
________________________________________________________________________ 7
B. PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT 8
1. MEMORY (CIRCLE ONE) 9
(A) Intact; (B) Mild Impairment; (C) Moderate Impairment; (D) Severe Impairment 10
2. ATTENTION (CIRCLE ONE) 11
(A) Intact; (B) Mild Impairment; (C) Shifting/Wandering; (D) Delirium; (E) Unresponsive 12
3. JUDGMENT (CIRCLE ONE) 13
(A) Intact; (B) Able to Make Most Decisions; (C) Impaired; (D) Gross Impairment 14
4. LANGUAGE (CIRCLE ALL THAT APPLY) 15
(A) Intact (B) Sensory Deficits (Hearing/Speech/Sight) 16
(C) Impairment In Comprehension/Speech: Mild/Moderate/Severe 17
(D) Completely Unresponsive 18
5. EMOTION (CIRCLE ALL THAT APPLY) 19
(A) ANXIETY/DEPRESSION: (1) None (2) History of Anxiety/Depression 20
(3) Moderate Symptoms of Anxiety/Depression 21
(4) Severe symptoms with sleep/appetite/energy disturbance 22
(5) Suicide/Homicidal 23
(B) OTHER: (1) Suspiciousness/Belligerence/Explosiveness 24
(2) Delusions/Hallucinations (3) Unresponsive 25
If you circled any of the above, other than (A) or (1) for any of the above categories, please 26
explain whether the situation is treatable or reversible, and if so, how: 27
C. SOCIAL ASSESSMENT 28
1. MOBILITY (CIRCLE ALL THAT APPLY) 29
(A) Intact/Exercises (B) Drives Car Or Uses Public Transportation (C) Independent 30
Ambulation in Home Only; (D) Walker/Cane; (E) Requires Assistance 31
If you circled (C), (D), or (E), is situation treatable or reversible? If so, how? 32
__________________________________________________________________ 33
__________________________________________________________________ 34
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__________________________________________________________________ 1
__________________________________________________________________ 2
__________________________________________________________________ 3
2. SELF CARE (CIRCLE ALL THAT APPLY) 4
(A) No Assistance Needed; 5
(B) Requires Assistance with (1) Meals (2) Bathing (3) Dressing (4) Toileting/Feeding 6
If you circled any of (B), is individual aware that assistance is required? ___________________ 7
Is individual willing to accept assistance? _____________________________________________ 8
Is individual able to arrange for assistance? ____________________________________________ 9
3. CARE PLAN MAINTENANCE (CIRCLE ALL THAT APPLY) 10
(A) No Active Problem; (B) Initiates Problem Identification; (C) Actively Cooperative; 11
(D) Passively Cooperative; (E) Passively Uncooperative; (F) Actively Uncooperative 12
4. SOCIAL NETWORK RELATIONSHIPS 13
(CIRCLE ONE IN (A) AND IN ONE IN (B)) 14
SUPPORT: 15
(1) Very Good Supportive Network; (2) Some Support From Family And Friends; (3) No 16
Or Limited Support From Family/Friends; (4) Needs Community Support; (5) 17
Isolated/Homebound 18
(B) SOCIAL SKILLS: 19
(1) Very Good Social Skills; (2) Good Social Skills; (3) Interacts With Prompting; (4) 20
Isolated 21
D. SUMMARY 22
I hereby certify that I have reviewed sections A, B, & C attached hereto and based on such 23
assessments that the individual's decision-making ability is as follows: 24
(1) PLEASE DESCRIBE AS FULLY AS YOU CAN THE INDIVIDUAL'S DECISION -25
MAKING ABILITY IN EACH OF THE FOLLOWING AREAS: 26
A. FINANCIAL MATTERS 27
________________________________________________________________________ 28
________________________________________________________________________ 29
________________________________________________________________________ 30
________________________________________________________________________ 31
________________________________________________________________________ 32
B. HEALTH CARE MATTERS 33
________________________________________________________________________ 34
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________________________________________________________________________ 1
________________________________________________________________________ 2
________________________________________________________________________ 3
________________________________________________________________________ 4
C. RELATIONSHIPS 5
________________________________________________________________________ 6
________________________________________________________________________ 7
________________________________________________________________________ 8
________________________________________________________________________ 9
________________________________________________________________________ 10
D. RESIDENTIAL MATTERS 11
________________________________________________________________________ 12
________________________________________________________________________ 13
________________________________________________________________________ 14
________________________________________________________________________ 15
________________________________________________________________________ 16
(2) PLEASE INDICATE YOUR OPINION REGARDING WHETHER THE INDIVIDUAL 17
NEEDS A SUBSTITUTE DECISION-MAKER IN ANY OF THE FOLLOWING AREAS: 18
(Circle one for each category. If you circle "limited" for any category, please explain.) 19
(1) FINANCIAL MATTERS Yes No Limited 20
________________________________________________________________________ 21
________________________________________________________________________ 22
________________________________________________________________________ 23
________________________________________________________________________ 24
________________________________________________________________________ 25
(2) HEALTH CARE MATTERS Yes No Limited 26
________________________________________________________________________ 27
________________________________________________________________________ 28
________________________________________________________________________ 29
________________________________________________________________________ 30
________________________________________________________________________ 31
(3) RELATIONSHIPS Yes No Limited 32
________________________________________________________________________ 33
________________________________________________________________________ 34
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________________________________________________________________________ 1
________________________________________________________________________ 2
________________________________________________________________________ 3
(4) RESIDENTIAL MATTERS Yes No Limited 4
________________________________________________________________________ 5
________________________________________________________________________ 6
________________________________________________________________________ 7
________________________________________________________________________ 8
________________________________________________________________________ 9
(5) OTHER: If there are any other areas in which you think the individual lacks decision-making 10
ability or has limited decision-making ability, please explain. 11
________________________________________________________________________ 12
________________________________________________________________________ 13
________________________________________________________________________ 14
________________________________________________________________________ 15
________________________________________________________________________ 16
__________________________________ 17
Signature 18
_______________________________ 19
Name (Print or Type) 20
______________________________ 21
Title22
______________________________ 23
Date24
______________________________ 25
Names and titles of others who assisted in Preparation of This Assessment. 26
________________________________________________________________________ 27
________________________________________________________________________ 28
________________________________________________________________________ 29
________________________________________________________________________ 30
________________________________________________________________________ 31
STATE OF RHODE ISLAND PROBATE COURT OF THE 32
COUNTY OF ___________________ 33
Estate of ________________________ Docket No. ________________ 34
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ANNUAL STATUS REPORT 1
(1) The residence of the ward is ________________________________________________ 2
(2) The medical condition of the ward is: 3
________________________________________________________________________ 4
________________________________________________________________________ 5
________________________________________________________________________ 6
(3) I perceive the following changes in the decision making capacity of the ward: 7
________________________________________________________________________ 8
________________________________________________________________________ 9
________________________________________________________________________ 10
(4) The following is a summary of the actions I have taken and decisions I have made on behalf of 11
the ward during the last year: 12
________________________________________________________________________ 13
________________________________________________________________________ 14
________________________________________________________________________ 15
(If more space is needed, please attach a supplement). 16
__________________________ 17
Guardian 18
__________________________ 19
Date 20
STATE OF RHODE ISLAND PROBATE COURT OF 21
COUNTY OF _____________ THE _______________ 22
(Estate Name) 23
Probate Court No. ______ 24
REPORT OF THE GUARDIAN AD LITEM 25
Now comes (Name of Guardian Ad Litem) for (Name of Proposed Ward) and reports that 26
on (Date), I personally visited the proposed ward at (Address). I explained to (Name of Proposed 27
Ward) the following: 28
* The nature, purpose, and legal effect of the appointment of a guardian; 29
* The hearing procedure, including, but not limited to, the right to contest the petition, to 30
request limits on the guardian's powers, to object to a particular person being appointed guardian, 31
to be present at the hearing, and to be represented by legal counsel; 32
* The name of the person known to be seeking appointment as guardian: 33
Based on such visit and the respondent's reaction thereto, I make the following 34
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determination regarding the respondent's desire to be present at the hearing, to contest the 1
petition, to have limits placed on the guardian's powers and respondent's objection, if any, to a 2
particular person being appointed as guardian. 3
__________________________________________________________________ 4
__________________________________________________________________ 5
__________________________________________________________________ 6
__________________________________________________________________ 7
Based on my review of the petition, the decision making assessment tool, my interview 8
with the prospective guardian, my visit with the respondent, and interviews and discussions with 9
other parties, I made the following additional determinations: 10
Regarding whether the respondent is in need of a guardian of the type prayed for in the 11
petition: 12
__________________________________________________________________ 13
__________________________________________________________________ 14
__________________________________________________________________ 15
__________________________________________________________________ 16
Regarding whether the guardian ad litem has, in the course of fulfilling his or her duties, 17
discovered information concerning the suitability of the individual or entity to serve as such 18
guardian: 19
__________________________________________________________________ 20
__________________________________________________________________ 21
__________________________________________________________________ 22
__________________________________________________________________ 23
Respectfully submitted, 24
Date: ________________________ _______________________ 25
(Name of Guardian Ad Litem) 26
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. 27
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LC002216
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EXPLANATION
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
OF
A N A C T
RELATING TO PROBATE PRACTICE AND PROCEDU RE -- LIMITED GUARDIANSHIP
AND GUARDIANSHIP OF ADULTS
***
This act would provide that supported decision-making pursuant to chapter 66.13 of title 1
42 be added to the Limited Guardianship and Guardianship of Adults forms section as one of the 2
less restrictive alternatives to guardianship that have been explored. 3
This act would take effect upon passage. 4
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LC002216
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