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260.242 Guardian.

Subdivision 1. If the court terminates parental rights of both parents or of the only known living parent, the court shall order the guardianship and the legal custody of the child transferred to:

(a) The commissioner of human services; or

(b) A licensed child-placing agency; or

(c) An individual who is willing and capable of assuming the appropriate duties and responsibilities to the child.

Subd. 1a. Protection of heritage or background. In ordering guardianship and transferring legal custody of the child to an individual under this section, the court shall comply with the provisions of section 260.181, subdivision 3.

Subd. 1b. Both parents deceased. If upon petition to the juvenile court by a reputable person, including but not limited to an agent of the commissioner of human services, and upon hearing in the manner provided in section 260.155, the court finds that both parents are deceased and no appointment has been made or petition for appointment filed pursuant to sections 525.615 to 525.6185, the court shall order the guardianship and legal custody of the child transferred to:

(a) the commissioner of human services;

(b) a licensed child-placing agency; or

(c) an individual who is willing and capable of assuming the appropriate duties and responsibilities to the child.

Subd. 2. Guardian's responsibilities. (a) A guardian appointed under the provisions of this section has legal custody of a ward unless the court which appoints the guardian gives legal custody to some other person. If the court awards custody to a person other than the guardian, the guardian nonetheless has the right and responsibility of reasonable visitation, except as limited by court order.

(b) The guardian may make major decisions affecting the person of the ward, including but not limited to giving consent (when consent is legally required) to the marriage, enlistment in the armed forces, medical, surgical, or psychiatric treatment, or adoption of the ward. When, pursuant to this section, the commissioner of human services is appointed guardian, the commissioner may delegate to the local social services agency of the county in which, after the appointment, the ward resides, the authority to act for the commissioner in decisions affecting the person of the ward, including but not limited to giving consent to the marriage, enlistment in the armed forces, medical, surgical, or psychiatric treatment of the ward.

(c) A guardianship created under the provisions of this section shall not of itself include the guardianship of the estate of the ward.

(d) If the ward is in foster care, the court shall, upon its own motion or that of the guardian, conduct a dispositional hearing within 18 months of the child's initial foster care placement and once every 12 months thereafter to determine the future status of the ward including, but not limited to, whether the child should be continued in foster care for a specified period, should be placed for adoption, or should, because of the child's special needs or circumstances, be continued in foster care on a long-term basis.

HIST: 1980 c 561 s 13; 1983 c 278 s 15; 1983 c 304 s 3,4; 1983 c 312 art 5 s 35; 1984 c 654 art 5 s 58; 1986 c 444; 1994 c 631 s 31; 1997 c 107 s 17

Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes