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Rhode Island House Bill H6067

Rhode Island 2023 Regular Session

Rhode Island House Bill H6067 Compare Versions

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55 2023 -- H 6067
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77 LC002216
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99 S TATE OF RHODE IS LAND
1010 IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
1111 JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023
1212 ____________
1313
1414 A N A C T
1515 RELATING TO PROBATE PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE -- LIMITED GUARDIANSHIP
1616 AND GUARDIANSHIP OF ADULTS
1717 Introduced By: Representatives Cortvriend, Spears, Dawson, Carson, Shallcross Smith,
1818 and Ajello
1919 Date Introduced: March 03, 2023
2020 Referred To: House Judiciary
2121
2222
2323 It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
2424 SECTION 1. Section 33-15-47 of the General Laws in Chapter 33-15 entitled "Limited 1
2525 Guardianship and Guardianship of Adults" is hereby amended to read as follows: 2
2626 33-15-47. Forms. 3
2727 The following forms shall be used for the purposes of this chapter: 4
2828 STATE OF RHODE ISLAND PROBATE COURT OF THE 5
2929 COUNTY OF _______________ ______________________ 6
3030 No. _________________ 7
3131 ESTATE OF ____________________________ 8
3232 PERSONAL ESTATE ESTIMATED AT $________ CITY/TOWN OF 9
3333 ________________ 10
3434 20 ____________ 11
3535 PETITION FOR LIMITED GUARDIANSHIP 12
3636 OR GUARDIANSHIP 13
3737 ______________________hereby petitions the Probate Court of the city/town of ______________ 14
3838 Petitioner 15
3939 to appoint a limited guardian/guardian for ______________ who currently resides at 16
4040 ________________________, in the city/town of __________________, and whose date of birth 17
4141 Address 18
4242
4343
4444 LC002216 - Page 2 of 14
4545 is __________________. 1
4646 Based upon an assessment conducted by ________________ on ______________, which 2
4747 Date 3
4848 functional assessment reflects the current level of functioning of ______________, it has been 4
4949 Respondent 5
5050 determined that _____________ lacks decision-making ability in one or more of the following 6
5151 Respondent 7
5252 areas as indicated: 8
5353 ____ health care 9
5454 ____ financial matters 10
5555 ____ residence 11
5656 ____ association 12
5757 ____ other 13
5858 Regarding each area indicated, please describe the specific assistance needed: 14
5959 ________________________________________________________________________ 15
6060 ________________________________________________________________________ 16
6161 ________________________________________________________________________ 17
6262 ________________________________________________________________________ 18
6363 ________________________________________________________________________ 19
6464 Indicate which of the following less restrictive alternatives to guardianship have been explored 20
6565 and deemed inappropriate as indicated: 21
6666 ____ Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care 22
6767 ____ Living Will 23
6868 ____ Power of Attorney 24
6969 ____ Durable Power of Attorney 25
7070 ____ Trusts 26
7171 ____ Joint Property Arrangements 27
7272 ____ Representative Payee 28
7373 ____ Money Management 29
7474 ____ Single Court Transactions 30
7575 ____ Government Benefit and Social Service Programs 31
7676 ____ Housing Options 32
7777 ____ Supported Decision-Making, see chapter 66.13 of title 42 33
7878 ____ Other 34
7979
8080
8181 LC002216 - Page 3 of 14
8282 Please describe the basis for the determination that the alternative will not meet the needs of the 1
8383 respondent for each alternative explored and deemed inappropriate: 2
8484 ________________________________________________________________________ 3
8585 ________________________________________________________________________ 4
8686 ________________________________________________________________________ 5
8787 ________________________________________________________________________ 6
8888 ________________________________________________________________________ 7
8989 ________________________________________________________________________ 8
9090 ________________________________________________________________________ 9
9191 ________________________________________________________________________ 10
9292 ________________________________________________________________________ 11
9393 ________________________________________________________________________ 12
9494 ________________________________________________________________________ 13
9595 ________________________________________________________________________ 14
9696 ________________________________________________________________________ 15
9797 ________________________________________________________________________ 16
9898 ________________________________________________________________________ 17
9999 The following individual/agency is willing to serve as guardian: 18
100100 ________________________________________________________________________ 19
101101 ________________________________________________________________________ 20
102102 ________________________________________________________________________ 21
103103 Upon information and belief the above individual/agency has: 22
104104 □ No conflict of interest that would interfere with guardianship duties. 23
105105 □ No criminal background that would interfere with guardianship duties. 24
106106 □ The capacity to manage financial resources involved. 25
107107 □ The ability to meet requirements of law and unique needs of individual. 26
108108 □ Demonstrated willingness to undergo training. 27
109109 The Respondent has the following heirs at law: 28
110110 NAME: RESIDENCE: 29
111111 ________________________________________________________________________ 30
112112 ________________________________________________________________________ 31
113113 ________________________________________________________________________ 32
114114 ________________________________________________________________________ 33
115115 ________________________________________________________________________ 34
116116
117117
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119119 ___________________________________ 1
120120 Signature 2
121121 ___________________________________ 3
122122 Name4
123123 ___________________________________ 5
124124 Address 6
125125 __________________________________ 7
126126 Telephone 8
127127 Subscribed and sworn to before me this as to the truth of the above facts by ________ in ________ 9
128128 on the ________day of ________, 20____. 10
129129 __________________________________ 11
130130 Notary Public 12
131131 __________________________________ 13
132132 Print Name 14
133133 DECREE 15
134134 __________________ __________________ 16
135135 Dated PROBATE JUDGE 17
136136 This notice should be served at once and returned to the clerk of the court. 18
137137 NOTICE 19
138138 STATE OF RHODE ISLAND 20
139139 BY THE PROBATE COURT OF THE __________ OF ____________ 21
140140 BY THE COUNTY OF ______________ AND STATE AFORESAID 22
141141 To ________________________ 23
142142 Estate or ______________ 24
143143 Docket No. _____________ 25
144144 GREETING: 26
145145 A petition for Limited Guardianship/Guardianship has been filed in the Probate Court of the 27
146146 city/town of _______________________. 28
147147 _______________________________ has requested that the Probate Court appoint a limited 29
148148 Petitioner 30
149149 guardian/guardian for you. 31
150150 A hearing regarding this Petition shall be held 32
151151 On: ______________ 33
152152 date 34
153153
154154
155155 LC002216 - Page 5 of 14
156156 At: _______________ 1
157157 time 2
158158 at the Probate Court for the town of ____________________________________________ . 3
159159 ______________________________________________________________________________ 4
160160 Address 5
161161 ______________________________________________________________________________ 6
162162 The Petition requests that the Probate Court consider the qualification of the following 7
163163 individual/agency to serve as your limited guardian/guardian: 8
164164 ______________________________________________________________________________9
165165 ______________________________________________________________________________ 10
166166 A guardian ad litem will be appointed by the Probate Court to visit you, explain the 11
167167 process and inform you of your rights. 12
168168 You have the right to attend the hearing to contest the petition, to request that the powers 13
169169 of the guardian be limited or to object to the appointment of particular individual/agency limited 14
170170 guardian/ guardian. If you wish to contest the petition, you have the right to be represented by an 15
171171 attorney, at state expense, if you are indigent. 16
172172 If the Petition is granted and a limited guardian/guardian is appointed, the Probate Court 17
173173 may give the limited guardian/guardian the power to make decisions about one or more of the 18
174174 following: 19
175175 Your health care; your money; where you live; and with whom you associate. 20
176176 Copies of this Notice will be mailed to: 21
177177 The administrator of any care or treatment facility where you live or receive primary 22
178178 services; your spouse, and heirs at law; any individual or entity known to petitioner to be regularly 23
179179 supplying protection services to you. 24
180180 CERTIFICATION OF SERVICE 25
181181 I certify that I hand-delivered and read this Notice to __________________ on the 26
182182 ________ day of________, 20____. 27
183183 ___________________________________ 28
184184 Signature 29
185185 ___________________________________ 30
186186 Print Name 31
187187 __________________________________ 32
188188 Address 33
189189 CERTIFICATION OF NOTICE 34
190190
191191
192192 LC002216 - Page 6 of 14
193193 I certify that, as required by Rhode Island General Laws § 33-15-17.1(e), I mailed a copy 1
194194 of this Notice to the following persons, at the addresses listed, on the ________ day of ________, 2
195195 20____. 3
196196 __________________________________ 4
197197 Signature 5
198198 ___________________________________ 6
199199 Print Name 7
200200 __________________________________ 8
201201 Address 9
202202 Subscribed and sworn to before me this ________ day of ________, 20____. 10
203203 ___________________________________ 11
204204 Notary Public 12
205205 WITNESS 13
206206 Judge of the Probate Court of the ________ of ________ this ________ day of ________, 14
207207 20____. 15
208208 ___________________________________ 16
209209 Clerk 17
210210 DECISION-MAKING ASSESSMENT TOOL 18
211211 Name of Individual being assessed: Current Address: 19
212212 ______________________________ ______________________________ 20
213213 ______________________________ 21
214214 Date of Birth: Permanent Address (if different): 22
215215 ________________________ _________________________ 23
216216 _________________________ 24
217217 Instructions for Completion 25
218218 This document will be used by a Probate Court to determine whether to appoint a 26
219219 guardian to assist this individual in some or all areas of decision-making. 27
220220 This document has two parts. Please first complete the part which is right after these 28
221221 instructions, titled Assessment. Then complete the second section, titled Summary. 29
222222 To a physician completing this document: The individual's treating physician must 30
223223 complete this document. If there is any information of which the treating physician completing 31
224224 this document does not have direct knowledge, he or she is encouraged to make such inquiries of 32
225225 such other persons as are necessary to complete the entire form. Those persons might include 33
226226 other medical personnel such as nurses, or other persons such as family members or social service 34
227227
228228
229229 LC002216 - Page 7 of 14
230230 professionals who are acquainted with the individual. If the physician has received information 1
231231 from others in completing the form, the names of those individuals must be listed on the 2
232232 Summary. 3
233233 To a non-physician completing this document: Professionals or other persons acquainted 4
234234 with the individual being assessed may also complete this document. If there is information of 5
235235 which a non-physician completing this document does not have knowledge, such non-physician 6
236236 may either leave portions of the document blank, or also make inquiries or do such investigation 7
237237 as is necessary to complete the entire document. Again, the names of any individual from whom 8
238238 information is derived should be listed on the Summary. 9
239239 The document must be signed and dated by the person completing it. It does not need to be 10
240240 notarized. 11
241241 A. BIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT 12
242242 THE FOLLOWING IS BASED UPON A PHYSICAL EXAMINATION CONDUCTED BY ME 13
243243 ON 14
244244 __________________________ 15
245245 (DATE) 16
246246 1. DIAGNOSIS and PROGNOSIS: 17
247247 ________________________________________________________________________ 18
248248 ________________________________________________________________________ 19
249249 ________________________________________________________________________ 20
250250 ________________________________________________________________________ 21
251251 ________________________________________________________________________ 22
252252 2. MEDICATION (PLEASE LIST): 23
253253 ________________________________________________________________________ 24
254254 ________________________________________________________________________ 25
255255 ________________________________________________________________________ 26
256256 ________________________________________________________________________ 27
257257 ________________________________________________________________________ 28
258258 How do the above medications, if any, affect the individual's decision-making ability? Please 29
259259 explain: 30
260260 ________________________________________________________________________ 31
261261 ________________________________________________________________________ 32
262262 ________________________________________________________________________ 33
263263 ________________________________________________________________________ 34
264264
265265
266266 LC002216 - Page 8 of 14
267267 ________________________________________________________________________ 1
268268 3. CURRENT NUTRITIONAL STATUS: 2
269269 ________________________________________________________________________ 3
270270 ________________________________________________________________________ 4
271271 ________________________________________________________________________ 5
272272 ________________________________________________________________________ 6
273273 ________________________________________________________________________ 7
274274 B. PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT 8
275275 1. MEMORY (CIRCLE ONE) 9
276276 (A) Intact; (B) Mild Impairment; (C) Moderate Impairment; (D) Severe Impairment 10
277277 2. ATTENTION (CIRCLE ONE) 11
278278 (A) Intact; (B) Mild Impairment; (C) Shifting/Wandering; (D) Delirium; (E) Unresponsive 12
279279 3. JUDGMENT (CIRCLE ONE) 13
280280 (A) Intact; (B) Able to Make Most Decisions; (C) Impaired; (D) Gross Impairment 14
281281 4. LANGUAGE (CIRCLE ALL THAT APPLY) 15
282282 (A) Intact (B) Sensory Deficits (Hearing/Speech/Sight) 16
283283 (C) Impairment In Comprehension/Speech: Mild/Moderate/Severe 17
284284 (D) Completely Unresponsive 18
285285 5. EMOTION (CIRCLE ALL THAT APPLY) 19
286286 (A) ANXIETY/DEPRESSION: (1) None (2) History of Anxiety/Depression 20
287287 (3) Moderate Symptoms of Anxiety/Depression 21
288288 (4) Severe symptoms with sleep/appetite/energy disturbance 22
289289 (5) Suicide/Homicidal 23
290290 (B) OTHER: (1) Suspiciousness/Belligerence/Explosiveness 24
291291 (2) Delusions/Hallucinations (3) Unresponsive 25
292292 If you circled any of the above, other than (A) or (1) for any of the above categories, please 26
293293 explain whether the situation is treatable or reversible, and if so, how: 27
294294 C. SOCIAL ASSESSMENT 28
295295 1. MOBILITY (CIRCLE ALL THAT APPLY) 29
296296 (A) Intact/Exercises (B) Drives Car Or Uses Public Transportation (C) Independent 30
297297 Ambulation in Home Only; (D) Walker/Cane; (E) Requires Assistance 31
298298 If you circled (C), (D), or (E), is situation treatable or reversible? If so, how? 32
299299 __________________________________________________________________ 33
300300 __________________________________________________________________ 34
301301
302302
303303 LC002216 - Page 9 of 14
304304 __________________________________________________________________ 1
305305 __________________________________________________________________ 2
306306 __________________________________________________________________ 3
307307 2. SELF CARE (CIRCLE ALL THAT APPLY) 4
308308 (A) No Assistance Needed; 5
309309 (B) Requires Assistance with (1) Meals (2) Bathing (3) Dressing (4) Toileting/Feeding 6
310310 If you circled any of (B), is individual aware that assistance is required? ___________________ 7
311311 Is individual willing to accept assistance? _____________________________________________ 8
312312 Is individual able to arrange for assistance? ____________________________________________ 9
313313 3. CARE PLAN MAINTENANCE (CIRCLE ALL THAT APPLY) 10
314314 (A) No Active Problem; (B) Initiates Problem Identification; (C) Actively Cooperative; 11
315315 (D) Passively Cooperative; (E) Passively Uncooperative; (F) Actively Uncooperative 12
316316 4. SOCIAL NETWORK RELATIONSHIPS 13
317317 (CIRCLE ONE IN (A) AND IN ONE IN (B)) 14
318318 SUPPORT: 15
319319 (1) Very Good Supportive Network; (2) Some Support From Family And Friends; (3) No 16
320320 Or Limited Support From Family/Friends; (4) Needs Community Support; (5) 17
321321 Isolated/Homebound 18
322322 (B) SOCIAL SKILLS: 19
323323 (1) Very Good Social Skills; (2) Good Social Skills; (3) Interacts With Prompting; (4) 20
324324 Isolated 21
325325 D. SUMMARY 22
326326 I hereby certify that I have reviewed sections A, B, & C attached hereto and based on such 23
327327 assessments that the individual's decision-making ability is as follows: 24
328328 (1) PLEASE DESCRIBE AS FULLY AS YOU CAN THE INDIVIDUAL'S DECISION -25
329329 MAKING ABILITY IN EACH OF THE FOLLOWING AREAS: 26
330330 A. FINANCIAL MATTERS 27
331331 ________________________________________________________________________ 28
332332 ________________________________________________________________________ 29
333333 ________________________________________________________________________ 30
334334 ________________________________________________________________________ 31
335335 ________________________________________________________________________ 32
336336 B. HEALTH CARE MATTERS 33
337337 ________________________________________________________________________ 34
338338
339339
340340 LC002216 - Page 10 of 14
341341 ________________________________________________________________________ 1
342342 ________________________________________________________________________ 2
343343 ________________________________________________________________________ 3
344344 ________________________________________________________________________ 4
345345 C. RELATIONSHIPS 5
346346 ________________________________________________________________________ 6
347347 ________________________________________________________________________ 7
348348 ________________________________________________________________________ 8
349349 ________________________________________________________________________ 9
350350 ________________________________________________________________________ 10
351351 D. RESIDENTIAL MATTERS 11
352352 ________________________________________________________________________ 12
353353 ________________________________________________________________________ 13
354354 ________________________________________________________________________ 14
355355 ________________________________________________________________________ 15
356356 ________________________________________________________________________ 16
357357 (2) PLEASE INDICATE YOUR OPINION REGARDING WHETHER THE INDIVIDUAL 17
358358 NEEDS A SUBSTITUTE DECISION-MAKER IN ANY OF THE FOLLOWING AREAS: 18
359359 (Circle one for each category. If you circle "limited" for any category, please explain.) 19
360360 (1) FINANCIAL MATTERS Yes No Limited 20
361361 ________________________________________________________________________ 21
362362 ________________________________________________________________________ 22
363363 ________________________________________________________________________ 23
364364 ________________________________________________________________________ 24
365365 ________________________________________________________________________ 25
366366 (2) HEALTH CARE MATTERS Yes No Limited 26
367367 ________________________________________________________________________ 27
368368 ________________________________________________________________________ 28
369369 ________________________________________________________________________ 29
370370 ________________________________________________________________________ 30
371371 ________________________________________________________________________ 31
372372 (3) RELATIONSHIPS Yes No Limited 32
373373 ________________________________________________________________________ 33
374374 ________________________________________________________________________ 34
375375
376376
377377 LC002216 - Page 11 of 14
378378 ________________________________________________________________________ 1
379379 ________________________________________________________________________ 2
380380 ________________________________________________________________________ 3
381381 (4) RESIDENTIAL MATTERS Yes No Limited 4
382382 ________________________________________________________________________ 5
383383 ________________________________________________________________________ 6
384384 ________________________________________________________________________ 7
385385 ________________________________________________________________________ 8
386386 ________________________________________________________________________ 9
387387 (5) OTHER: If there are any other areas in which you think the individual lacks decision-making 10
388388 ability or has limited decision-making ability, please explain. 11
389389 ________________________________________________________________________ 12
390390 ________________________________________________________________________ 13
391391 ________________________________________________________________________ 14
392392 ________________________________________________________________________ 15
393393 ________________________________________________________________________ 16
394394 __________________________________ 17
395395 Signature 18
396396 _______________________________ 19
397397 Name (Print or Type) 20
398398 ______________________________ 21
399399 Title22
400400 ______________________________ 23
401401 Date24
402402 ______________________________ 25
403403 Names and titles of others who assisted in Preparation of This Assessment. 26
404404 ________________________________________________________________________ 27
405405 ________________________________________________________________________ 28
406406 ________________________________________________________________________ 29
407407 ________________________________________________________________________ 30
408408 ________________________________________________________________________ 31
409409 STATE OF RHODE ISLAND PROBATE COURT OF THE 32
410410 COUNTY OF ___________________ 33
411411 Estate of ________________________ Docket No. ________________ 34
412412
413413
414414 LC002216 - Page 12 of 14
415415 ANNUAL STATUS REPORT 1
416416 (1) The residence of the ward is ________________________________________________ 2
417417 (2) The medical condition of the ward is: 3
418418 ________________________________________________________________________ 4
419419 ________________________________________________________________________ 5
420420 ________________________________________________________________________ 6
421421 (3) I perceive the following changes in the decision making capacity of the ward: 7
422422 ________________________________________________________________________ 8
423423 ________________________________________________________________________ 9
424424 ________________________________________________________________________ 10
425425 (4) The following is a summary of the actions I have taken and decisions I have made on behalf of 11
426426 the ward during the last year: 12
427427 ________________________________________________________________________ 13
428428 ________________________________________________________________________ 14
429429 ________________________________________________________________________ 15
430430 (If more space is needed, please attach a supplement). 16
431431 __________________________ 17
432432 Guardian 18
433433 __________________________ 19
434434 Date 20
435435 STATE OF RHODE ISLAND PROBATE COURT OF 21
436436 COUNTY OF _____________ THE _______________ 22
437437 (Estate Name) 23
438438 Probate Court No. ______ 24
439439 REPORT OF THE GUARDIAN AD LITEM 25
440440 Now comes (Name of Guardian Ad Litem) for (Name of Proposed Ward) and reports that 26
441441 on (Date), I personally visited the proposed ward at (Address). I explained to (Name of Proposed 27
442442 Ward) the following: 28
443443 * The nature, purpose, and legal effect of the appointment of a guardian; 29
444444 * The hearing procedure, including, but not limited to, the right to contest the petition, to 30
445445 request limits on the guardian's powers, to object to a particular person being appointed guardian, 31
446446 to be present at the hearing, and to be represented by legal counsel; 32
447447 * The name of the person known to be seeking appointment as guardian: 33
448448 Based on such visit and the respondent's reaction thereto, I make the following 34
449449
450450
451451 LC002216 - Page 13 of 14
452452 determination regarding the respondent's desire to be present at the hearing, to contest the 1
453453 petition, to have limits placed on the guardian's powers and respondent's objection, if any, to a 2
454454 particular person being appointed as guardian. 3
455455 __________________________________________________________________ 4
456456 __________________________________________________________________ 5
457457 __________________________________________________________________ 6
458458 __________________________________________________________________ 7
459459 Based on my review of the petition, the decision making assessment tool, my interview 8
460460 with the prospective guardian, my visit with the respondent, and interviews and discussions with 9
461461 other parties, I made the following additional determinations: 10
462462 Regarding whether the respondent is in need of a guardian of the type prayed for in the 11
463463 petition: 12
464464 __________________________________________________________________ 13
465465 __________________________________________________________________ 14
466466 __________________________________________________________________ 15
467467 __________________________________________________________________ 16
468468 Regarding whether the guardian ad litem has, in the course of fulfilling his or her duties, 17
469469 discovered information concerning the suitability of the individual or entity to serve as such 18
470470 guardian: 19
471471 __________________________________________________________________ 20
472472 __________________________________________________________________ 21
473473 __________________________________________________________________ 22
474474 __________________________________________________________________ 23
475475 Respectfully submitted, 24
476476 Date: ________________________ _______________________ 25
477477 (Name of Guardian Ad Litem) 26
478478 SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. 27
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482482
483483
484484 LC002216 - Page 14 of 14
485485 EXPLANATION
486486 BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
487487 OF
488488 A N A C T
489489 RELATING TO PROBATE PRACTICE AND PROCEDU RE -- LIMITED GUARDIANSHIP
490490 AND GUARDIANSHIP OF ADULTS
491491 ***
492492 This act would provide that supported decision-making pursuant to chapter 66.13 of title 1
493493 42 be added to the Limited Guardianship and Guardianship of Adults forms section as one of the 2
494494 less restrictive alternatives to guardianship that have been explored. 3
495495 This act would take effect upon passage. 4
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497497 LC002216
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