5015 Temporary Guardianship | PUBLIC-GUARDIANSHIP-5800-MANUAL

When the probate court determines that a person lacks sufficient capacity to make or communicate responsible decisions about a health issue that puts the person at immediate and substantial risk of death or serious physical injury, illness, or disease, the court may appoint an emergency guardian.

If the probate court judge finds that the health risk is so immediate that waiting for the emergency guardianship hearing to occur could do irreparable harm to the proposed ward, the court may appoint a pre-hearing emergency guardian.

If the probate court determines that there is some reason to suspend the authority of someone already acting as guardian, the court may appoint a temporary substitute guardian.

All three of these temporary guardianships are limited in time and scope of the guardianship duties. The duties of a temporary guardian should be spelled out specifically in the order of the probate court.

No guardian has legal authority to act after the date the probate court order expires or the law specifies, and no guardian has legal authority to make decisions or take actions that are not permitted by the probate court order or the law.

The probate court can terminate a temporary guardianship for many reasons and at any time. If the court does not specify how or when the temporary guardianship ends, the law sets the maximum time temporary guardianships can last:

If the maximum amount of time has passed, or the expiration date that the court set in the order has passed, the court does not have to issue an order for the temporary guardianship to end. The method for determining the expiration date is found later in this section.

First, an emergency guardianship can end if the probate court removes the emergency guardian. A removal means that the court discharges the guardian from duty. The court can remove an emergency guardian for any reason, even if there is no allegation of misconduct by the guardian.

Second, an emergency guardianship can end when the court has appointed a permanent guardian, and the permanent guardianship has begun.

Third, an emergency guardianship can end if the probate court dismisses the petition for guardianship. A dismissal can be requested by the petitioner and granted by the court, or the court itself can decide to dismiss the petition even if no one else requests a dismissal. A dismissal means that the probate court case closes out. When the judge issues an order saying that the case is dismissed, the emergency guardianship ends unless the order says otherwise.

A temporary substitute guardian can be removed by the court at any time, even if there are no allegations of misconduct by the guardian.

PGO staff shall not take action or make decisions as guardian after the expiration or termination of any guardianship appointment. Any case found to be open erroneously after the expiration or termination of the temporary guardianship must be staffed immediately with the PGO Section Manager to determine what action is needed to close the case.

After receiving the Letters of Guardianship and taking the oath of guardianship, PGO staff shall review carefully the duties listed in the final order and any expiration date set by the order.

Find the date that the Letters of Guardianship were filed with the clerk of the court. This date can be found in the stamp that is placed on the Letters by the clerk. This date is not always the same as the date the judge signed the Letters.

Count out calendar days starting with the day after the date stamp. Do not count in units of weeks or months.

The latest date a staffing can occur for an emergency guardianship or temporary substitute guardianship that does not have a specific expiration date in the order is 30 days before the temporary guardianship expires. When the court sets a date for expiration of the temporary guardianship, a staffing must occur no later than the half-way point to the expiration. If the temporary guardianship is scheduled to terminate in 30 days, the staffing must occur no later than 15 days into the appointment.

Pre-emergency guardianships are extremely short in duration. They should last only until the court makes a determination on the petition, which should be no later than five days after the petition was filed. PGO case managers must staff these cases with supervisors prior to seeing the guardianship client and as often as necessary throughout the appointment.

The purpose of the staffing with a supervisor is to review whether all duties the court order have been fulfilled and to plan for closing the case or going to court if necessary.

Prior to the staffing, PGO staff managing the temporary guardianship appointment must prepare for the staffing by:

The purpose of the staffing with a supervisor is to review whether all duties the court order have been fulfilled and to plan for closing the case or going to court if necessary. If the staff member and supervisor determine that:

Then the PGO staff member must inform the client when contact with staff will end and provide information on any service or resource that the client may have requested or the staff member thinks may be beneficial to the client. Standard procedures for case closure should be followed.

If the staff member and supervisor determine that more time is needed to complete the duties ordered in a temporary guardianship that has not exceeded the expiration date, then the staff member shall draft a summary of:

The summary, along with copies of the orders, Letters of Guardianship, and any other court documents must be sent to PGO management.

If the staff member and supervisor determine that a petition may need to be filed, then the staff member shall send a summary and documents to the FOM and SM.

After consideration, the FOM and SM will approve or deny staff’s request to petition the probate court.