The New Jersey legislature has authorized extensive changes in its guardianship system. One bill has been signed into law by the governor and amends current guardianship laws to create three levels of guardianship, depending on the ward's needs and situation. The other bill is awaiting the governor's signature and creates a new statute that establishes standards for the qualification, registration, and appointment of professional guardians.
According to Shirley Whitenack, an attorney at ElderLawAnswers member law firm, Schenck, Price, Smith & King, LLP, the new legislation is a major change in New Jersey guardianship law and will "empower incapacitated individuals to participate in the [guardianship] decision making process as much as possible." The new legislation shifts the focus away from the property of wards and onto protecting people's medical needs and personal autonomy, according to Whitenack. Whitenack hopes these measures will serve as a model for other states that are seeking to reform their guardianship laws.
The first bill, which was signed into law on January 11, 2006, and takes effect immediately, creates three levels of guardians: a general guardian, a limited guardian, and a temporary guardian. It allows a judge to appoint a temporary guardian to handle emergency situations where a mentally incapacitated person without a guardian faces a substantial risk of physical harm due to circumstances beyond his or her control. This will be beneficial, for example, in situations in which Medicare will no longer pay for a hospital stay. So if "an incapacitated person needs to be transferred from a hospital to a long-term care facility before a judge can hold a guardianship hearing . . . ," Whitenack says, "the court will be able to appoint a temporary guardian to effectuate the transfer."
The new legislation also requires guardians to file annual reports with the court about the ward's condition, requires guardians to prepare financial reports, allows domestic partners to be appointed guardians, permits guardians to voluntarily admit wards to psychiatric facilities, and requires guardians to encourage the ward's participation in decision-making.
The second bill, which the governor is expected to sign soon, requires all individuals with five or more unrelated wards to register with the Office of the Public Guardian for Elderly Adults. Professional guardians would need five years' guardianship experience and training, criminal and credit background checks, and to pay a fee. The bill would take effect six months after it is signed.
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