SB 546

Under current law, a court may appoint a guardian of the estate or a guardian

of the person for an individual, who is known as a ward if a guardian has been

appointed. For an adult individual who is found by the court to be a spendthrift, the

court may appoint a guardian of the estate. For an individual who is found by the

court to be incompetent, the court may appoint a guardian of the person, a guardian

of the estate, or both. A court may appoint a guardian of the person, a guardian of

the estate, or both, for a minor. Current law requires a guardian of the estate to

perform certain duties generally related to the ward's finances and property,

including taking possession of the ward's real and personal property and using the

ward's income and property to maintain and support the ward and any dependents

of the ward. The court may allow a guardian of the estate to exercise certain powers.

A guardian of the estate exercising one of those powers must use the judgment and

care that persons of prudence, discretion, and intelligence exercise in the

management of their own affairs. Also, a guardian of the estate, when exercising a

court-approved power, must consider the functional limitations of the ward, such as

the ward's understanding of the harm he or she is likely to suffer as the result of the

inability to manage property and financial affairs, the ward's personal preferences

and desires with regard to managing his or her activities of daily living, and the least

restrictive form of intervention for the ward. Some of the powers under current law

that a court may grant approval for a guardian of the estate to exercise include

making gifts under certain terms, purchasing an annuity or insurance contract,

continuing the business of the ward under the court's terms, and releasing or

disclaiming any interest of the ward that is received by will, intestate succession, or

other transfer. In addition, under current law, a guardian of the estate, with the

court's approval, may transfer assets of the ward to: 1) the trustee of any existing

revocable living trust that the ward has created for himself or herself and any

dependents; 2) if the ward is a minor, the trustee of any trust created for the exclusive

benefit of the ward that distributes to the ward at age 18 or 21, or 3) if the ward is

a minor, his or her estate, as the ward has appointed by a written instrument.

Under this bill, if a guardian of the estate exercises the power to transfer assets

of a minor ward to a trust created for the exclusive benefit of the ward and the assets

derive from an intestate estate, the court determines the age at which the trust

distributes to the ward. The court must set the distribution at no earlier than the

date the ward attains age 18 and no later than the date the ward attains age 25. The

bill also requires the trustee of the trust, at the request of a beneficiary of the trust

who has attained age 18, to make payments from the corpus of the trust for the

health, welfare, maintenance, or education of the beneficiary. The bill specifies that,

for purposes of determining eligibility for medical assistance for an adult who is the

beneficiary of such a trust, the corpus of the trust is considered a resource available

to the individual and payments made by the trustee from the corpus of the trust are