10.17.09
Medical Certificates - How many days in the life?
In Massachusetts medical certificates have a life of 30 days. One must be filed with a guardianship/conservatorship petition and one must be on file at the time of hearing. If either is stale, the case cannot go forward. As an aside, our new certificate is being touted to other states as the new gold standard.
But some say that now that the MC is so much more detailed, it’s much more difficult and/or expensive to obtain, making it near impossible to get a permanent appointment without a second doctor visit and MC.
Should the rule be changed to 60 days for the hearing, or 60 days for both filing and hearing? How about 90 days? Or should the strict limit of 30 be for only filing and let the court determine if another is needed at hearing? In acute care situations, the shorter limit might be appropriate as dramatic improvement could occur before hearing. But for prolonged illness, a new MC might be unnecessary. How to know the difference - another checkbox on the certificate?
Or, would the long awaited added protections brought by the Code be diluted by changing this policy which has been in place for many years?
This is an active topic among the courts and the guardianship bar. Opinions seem to be all over the place. If you have an opinion, please post your comments here. We’ll monitor and report to the MUPC Implementation Committee.
jimosullivan said,
October 21, 2009 at 12:33 pm
The UPC has slowed the courts down so much, that it is impossible, in most counties, to get a case resolved in the 30 day period. Some counties are not issuing citations until more 60 days after the filing. Because two medical certs will be needed in virtually all cases, this forces practitioners to seek temporary appointments in all cases. These certificates need longer shelf lives. I suggest 90 days. Also, the court should consider going back to the system where petitions can be filed without the med. cert., simply to start the clock. This will reduce the number of motions for temporary appointments.