Texas 2011 82nd Regular

Texas House Bill HB2900 Senate Committee Report / Bill

Filed 02/01/2025

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                    By: Hartnett (Senate Sponsor - Harris) H.B. No. 2900
 (In the Senate - Received from the House April 27, 2011;
 May 3, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on
 Jurisprudence; May 19, 2011, reported favorably by the following
 vote:  Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 19, 2011, sent to printer.)


 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 AN ACT
 relating to guardianship matters and proceedings.
 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 SECTION 1.  Section 612, Texas Probate Code, is amended to
 read as follows:
 Sec. 612.  APPLICATION FOR TRANSFER OF GUARDIANSHIP TO
 ANOTHER COUNTY. When a guardian or any other person desires to
 transfer [remove] the transaction of the business of the
 guardianship from one county to another, the person shall file a
 written application in the court in which the guardianship is
 pending stating the reason for the transfer [moving the transaction
 of business].
 SECTION 2.  Section 613(a), Texas Probate Code, is amended
 to read as follows:
 (a)  On filing an application to transfer [remove] a
 guardianship to another county, the sureties on the bond of the
 guardian shall be cited by personal service to appear and show cause
 why the application should not be granted.
 SECTION 3.  Sections 614, 615, 616, 617, and 618, Texas
 Probate Code, are amended to read as follows:
 Sec. 614.  COURT ACTION. (a)  On hearing an application
 under Section 612 of this code, if good cause is not shown to deny
 the application and it appears that transfer [removal] of the
 guardianship is in the best interests of the ward, the court shall
 enter an order authorizing the transfer [removal] on payment on
 behalf of the estate of all accrued costs.
 (b)  In an order entered under Subsection (a) of this
 section, the court shall require the guardian, not later than the
 20th day after the date the order is entered, to:
 (1)  give a new bond payable to the judge of the court
 to which the guardianship is transferred; or
 (2)  file a rider to an existing bond noting the court
 to which the guardianship is transferred.
 Sec. 615.  TRANSFER OF RECORD. When an order of transfer
 [removal] is made under Section 614 of this code, the clerk shall
 record any unrecorded papers of the guardianship required to be
 recorded.  On payment of the clerk's fee, the clerk shall transmit
 to the county clerk of the county to which the guardianship was
 ordered transferred [removed]:
 (1)  the case file of the guardianship proceedings; and
 (2)  a certified copy of the index of the guardianship
 records.
 Sec. 616.  TRANSFER [REMOVAL] EFFECTIVE. The order
 transferring [removing] a guardianship does not take effect until:
 (1)  the case file and a certified copy of the index
 required by Section 615 of this code are filed in the office of the
 county clerk of the county to which the guardianship was ordered
 transferred [removed]; and
 (2)  a certificate under the clerk's official seal and
 reporting the filing of the case file and a certified copy of the
 index is filed in the court ordering the transfer [removal] by the
 county clerk of the county to which the guardianship was ordered
 transferred [removed].
 Sec. 617.  CONTINUATION OF GUARDIANSHIP. When a
 guardianship is transferred [removed] from one county to another in
 accordance with this subpart, the guardianship proceeds in the
 court to which it was transferred [removed] as if it had been
 originally commenced in that court. It is not necessary to record
 in the receiving court any of the papers in the case that were
 recorded in the court from which the case was transferred
 [removed].
 Sec. 618.  NEW GUARDIAN APPOINTED ON TRANSFER [REMOVAL]. If
 it appears to the court that transfer [removal] of the guardianship
 is in the best interests of the ward, but that because of the
 transfer [removal] it is not in the best interests of the ward [will
 be unduly expensive or unduly inconvenient to the estate] for the
 guardian of the estate to continue to serve in that capacity, the
 court may in its order of transfer [removal] revoke the letters of
 guardianship and appoint a new guardian, and the former guardian
 shall account for and deliver the estate as provided by this chapter
 in a case in which a guardian resigns.
 SECTION 4.  Subpart B, Part 2, Chapter XIII, Texas Probate
 Code, is amended by adding Section 619 to read as follows:
 Sec. 619.  REVIEW OF TRANSFERRED GUARDIANSHIP. Not later
 than the 90th day after the date the transfer of the guardianship
 takes effect under Section 616 of this code, the court to which the
 guardianship was transferred shall hold a hearing to consider
 modifying the rights, duties, and powers of the guardian or any
 other provisions of the transferred guardianship.
 SECTION 5.  Subpart E, Part 2, Chapter XIII, Texas Probate
 Code, is amended by adding Section 652 to read as follows:
 Sec. 652.  LOCATION OF HEARING. (a)  Except as provided by
 Subsection (b) of this section, the judge may hold a hearing on a
 guardianship matter involving an adult ward or adult proposed ward
 at any suitable location in the county in which the guardianship
 matter is pending. The hearing should be held in a physical setting
 that is not likely to have a harmful effect on the ward or proposed
 ward.
 (b)  On the request of the adult proposed ward, the adult
 ward, or the attorney of the proposed ward or ward, the hearing may
 not be held under the authority of this section at a place other
 than the courthouse.
 SECTION 6.  Section 892, Texas Probate Code, is amended by
 amending Subsections (a) and (e) and adding Subsection (f-1) to
 read as follows:
 (a)  A guardian appointed by a foreign court to represent an
 incapacitated person who is residing in this state or intends to
 move to this state may file an application with a court in which the
 ward resides or intends to reside to have the guardianship
 transferred to the court.  The application must have attached a
 certified copy of all papers of the guardianship filed and recorded
 in the foreign court.
 (e)  The [On the court's own motion or on the motion of the
 ward or any interested person, the] court shall hold a hearing to:
 (1)  consider the application for receipt and
 acceptance of a foreign guardianship; and
 (2)  consider modifying the administrative procedures
 or requirements of the proposed transferred guardianship in
 accordance with local and state law.
 (f-1)  At the time of granting an application for receipt and
 acceptance of a foreign guardianship, the court may also modify the
 administrative procedures or requirements of the transferred
 guardianship in accordance with local and state law.
 SECTION 7.  Section 894(b), Texas Probate Code, is amended
 to read as follows:
 (b)  A court that delays further action in a guardianship
 proceeding under Subsection (a) of this section shall determine
 whether venue of the proceeding is more suitable in that court or in
 the foreign court.  In making that determination, the court may
 consider:
 (1)  the interests of justice;
 (2)  the best interests of the ward or proposed ward;
 [and]
 (3)  the convenience of the parties; and
 (4)  the preference of the ward or proposed ward, if the
 ward or proposed ward is 12 years of age or older.
 SECTION 8.  Subpart G, Part 5, Chapter XIII, Texas Probate
 Code, is amended by adding Section 895 to read as follows:
 Sec. 895.  DETERMINATION OF MOST APPROPRIATE FORUM FOR
 CERTAIN GUARDIANSHIP PROCEEDINGS.  (a)  If at any time a court of
 this state determines that it acquired jurisdiction of a proceeding
 for the appointment of a guardian of the person or estate, or both,
 of a ward or proposed ward because of unjustifiable conduct, the
 court may:
 (1)  decline to exercise jurisdiction;
 (2)  exercise jurisdiction for the limited purpose of
 fashioning an appropriate remedy to ensure the health, safety, and
 welfare of the ward or proposed ward or the protection of the ward's
 or proposed ward's property or prevent a repetition of the
 unjustifiable conduct, including staying the proceeding until a
 petition for the appointment of a guardian or issuance of a
 protective order is filed in a court of another state having
 jurisdiction; or
 (3)  continue to exercise jurisdiction after
 considering:
 (A)  the extent to which the ward or proposed ward
 and all persons required to be notified of the proceedings have
 acquiesced in the exercise of the court's jurisdiction;
 (B)  whether the court of this state is a more
 appropriate forum than the court of any other state after
 considering the factors described by Section 894(b) of this code;
 and
 (C)  whether the court of any other state would
 have jurisdiction under the factual circumstances of the matter.
 (b)  If a court of this state determines that it acquired
 jurisdiction of a proceeding for the appointment of a guardian of
 the person or estate, or both, of a ward or proposed ward because a
 party seeking to invoke the court's jurisdiction engaged in
 unjustifiable conduct, the court may assess against that party
 necessary and reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees,
 investigative fees, court costs, communication expenses, witness
 fees and expenses, and travel expenses. The court may not assess
 fees, costs, or expenses of any kind against this state or a
 governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality of this state
 unless authorized by other law.
 SECTION 9.  Section 893, Texas Probate Code, is repealed.
 SECTION 10.  Sections 612, 613, 614, 615, 616, 617, and 618,
 Texas Probate Code, as amended by this Act, and Section 619, Texas
 Probate Code, as added by this Act, apply only to an application for
 the transfer of a guardianship to another county filed on or after
 the effective date of this Act. An application for the transfer of
 a guardianship to another county filed before the effective date of
 this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the
 application was filed, and the former law is continued in effect for
 that purpose.
 SECTION 11.  Section 652, Texas Probate Code, as added by
 this Act, applies to a guardianship matter that is pending or
 commenced on or after the effective date of this Act.
 SECTION 12.  The changes in law made by this Act to Sections
 892 and 893, Texas Probate Code, apply only to an application for
 receipt and acceptance of a foreign guardianship filed on or after
 the effective date of this Act. An application for receipt and
 acceptance of a foreign guardianship filed before the effective
 date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the
 application was filed, and the former law is continued in effect for
 that purpose.
 SECTION 13.  Section 894, Texas Probate Code, as amended by
 this Act, and Section 895, Texas Probate Code, as added by this Act,
 apply only to a guardianship proceeding filed on or after the
 effective date of this Act. A guardianship proceeding filed before
 the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on
 the date the proceeding was filed, and the former law is continued
 in effect for that purpose.
 SECTION 14.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
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