06.29.09
Posted in Guardianship at 3:35 pm by Mark Leahy
Beginning July 1, 2009 Medical Certificates and Clinical Team Reports will be impounded and not available to the public. They will be available to interested persons who make a written request (MPC 303), the respondent, attorneys having filed an appearance and guardians ad litem. See new Standing Order 01-09. If a case is dismissed with no decree entering, the entire file will be impounded.
Parties may request that additional information be impounded as well by motion brought under Trial Court Rule VIII. Considerations for impoundment include the respondent’s preferences and the rights and interests of third parties.
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Posted in Guardianship at 3:07 pm by Mark Leahy
By new Standing Order 02-09, the Probate and Family Court has announced how it will apply the new law to guardian and conservator appointments made before July 1, 2009.
Guardians of both the person and estate (plenary guardianship) will going forward be considered both guardians and conservators. When the matter is next before the court, a new case file will be opened for the conservatorship. Guardians of the estate only will be treated as conservators. No new filings are required to maintain the authority of the guardian or conservator.
However, if a guardian seeks a new admission to a nursing home, authority must be sought from the court by a Petition to Expand- Modify- Limit the Powers of a Guardian (MPC 201). Admissions made prior to July 1 will be valid without further authorization, even through any temporary hospitalization.
Guardians, whenever appointed, will be required to file an Annual Report describing the incapacitated person’s condition, care, supervision, and visits (Form MPC 821). While new appointments will be automatically monitored for reporting compliance by the new MassCourts computer system, older cases will be reviewed and entered into the monitoring system when the cases are next before the court.
Conservators (including former guardians of the estate) continue to be required to file annual accountings. Older cases will be reviewed and entered into the monitoring system when the cases are next before the court. In addition to being monitored, conservators will be expected to file and present accounts for allowance annually.
Upon request, Letters of Guardianship or Letters of Conservatorship will be issued in place of old certificates of appointment.
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Posted in Guardianship at 1:59 pm by Mark Leahy
The Probate and Family Court has published new guardianship and conservatorship forms on its website. The forms will be required for filings made after July 1, 2009. The forms posted so far include Petitions, Medical Certificate, and Instructions for Clinicians. Additional forms will be posted very shortly.
Note that for any hearing for the appointment of a temporary or permanent guardian or conservator after June 30, the new Medical Certificate will be needed to support the Court’s required findings under the new law.
The forms are in PDF format with expandable sections. Filled in forms may be saved with Adobe Acrobat Standard or Pro.
The link to the forms is:
http://www.mass.gov/courts/courtsandjudges/courts/probateandfamilycourt/upcforms.html
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