HF 735

as introduced - 83rd Legislature (2003 - 2004) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to probate; excluding a spouse from the 
  1.3             background study requirements for guardians or 
  1.4             conservators; amending Minnesota Statutes 2002, 
  1.5             section 525.545, subdivision 1. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 525.545, 
  1.8   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Subdivision 1.  [WHEN REQUIRED; EXCEPTION.] (a) The court 
  1.10  shall require a background study under this section:  
  1.11     (1) before the appointment of a guardian or conservator, 
  1.12  unless a background study has been done on the person under this 
  1.13  section within the previous five years; and 
  1.14     (2) once every five years after the appointment, if the 
  1.15  person continues to serve as a guardian or conservator.  
  1.16     (b) The background study must include criminal history data 
  1.17  from the bureau of criminal apprehension and data regarding 
  1.18  whether the person has been a perpetrator of substantiated 
  1.19  maltreatment of a vulnerable adult.  
  1.20     (c) The court shall request a search of the National 
  1.21  Criminal Records Repository if the proposed guardian or 
  1.22  conservator has not resided in Minnesota for the previous five 
  1.23  years or if the bureau of criminal apprehension information 
  1.24  received from the commissioner of human services under 
  1.25  subdivision 2, paragraph (b), indicates that the subject is a 
  2.1   multistate offender or that the individual's multistate offender 
  2.2   status is undetermined.  
  2.3      (d) If the guardian or conservator is not an individual, 
  2.4   the background study must be done on all individuals currently 
  2.5   employed by the proposed guardian or conservator who will be 
  2.6   responsible for exercising powers and duties under the 
  2.7   guardianship or conservatorship.  
  2.8      (e) If the court determines that it would be in the best 
  2.9   interests of the ward or conservatee to appoint a guardian or 
  2.10  conservator before the background study can be completed, the 
  2.11  court may make the appointment pending the results of the study. 
  2.12     (f) The fee for conducting a background study for 
  2.13  appointment of a professional guardian or conservator must be 
  2.14  paid by the guardian or conservator.  In other cases, the fee 
  2.15  must be paid as follows: 
  2.16     (1) if the matter is proceeding in forma pauperis, the fee 
  2.17  is an expense for purposes of section 563.01; 
  2.18     (2) if there is an estate of the ward or conservatee, the 
  2.19  fee must be paid from the estate; or 
  2.20     (3) in the case of a guardianship or conservatorship of the 
  2.21  person that is not proceeding in forma pauperis, the court may 
  2.22  order that the fee be paid by the guardian or conservator or by 
  2.23  the court. 
  2.24     (g) The requirements of this subdivision do not apply if 
  2.25  the guardian or conservator is: 
  2.26     (1) a state agency or county; 
  2.27     (2) a spouse of a proposed ward or conservatee; 
  2.28     (3) a parent or guardian of a proposed ward or conservatee 
  2.29  who has mental retardation or a related condition, if the parent 
  2.30  or guardian has raised the proposed ward or conservatee in the 
  2.31  family home until the time the petition is filed, unless counsel 
  2.32  appointed for the proposed ward or conservatee under section 
  2.33  525.5501 recommends a background study; or 
  2.34     (3) (4) a bank with trust powers, bank and trust company, 
  2.35  or trust company, organized under the laws of any state or of 
  2.36  the United States and which is regulated by the commissioner of 
  3.1   commerce or a federal regulator.