Full Text of HB2539 96th General Assembly
HB2539enr 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning civil law.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Probate Act of 1975 is amended by changing | 5 |
| Sections 13-1, 13-3.1, and 13-5 and by adding Section 13-1.2 as | 6 |
| follows:
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| (755 ILCS 5/13-1) (from Ch. 110 1/2, par. 13-1)
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| Sec. 13-1.
Appointment and term of public administrator and | 9 |
| public guardian.)
Except as provided in Section 13-1.1, before | 10 |
| the first Monday of December,
1977 and every 4 years | 11 |
| thereafter, and as often as vacancies occur, the
Governor, by | 12 |
| and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall
appoint in | 13 |
| each county a suitable person to serve as public
administrator | 14 |
| and a suitable person to serve as public guardian of the | 15 |
| county.
The Governor may appoint the same person to serve as | 16 |
| public guardian and public administrator in one or more | 17 |
| counties. In considering the number of counties of service for | 18 |
| any prospective public guardian or public administrator the | 19 |
| Governor may consider the population of the county and the | 20 |
| ability of the prospective public guardian or public | 21 |
| administrator to travel to multiple counties and manage estates | 22 |
| in multiple counties. Each person so appointed holds his office | 23 |
| for
4 years from the first Monday of December, 1977 and every 4 |
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| years
thereafter or until his successor is appointed and | 2 |
| qualified.
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| (Source: P.A. 81-1052.)
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| (755 ILCS 5/13-1.2 new) | 5 |
| Sec. 13-1.2. Certification requirement. Each person | 6 |
| appointed as a public guardian by the Governor shall be | 7 |
| certified as a National Certified Guardian by the Center for | 8 |
| Guardianship Certification within 6 months after his or her | 9 |
| appointment. The Guardianship and Advocacy Commission shall | 10 |
| provide public guardians with professional training | 11 |
| opportunities and facilitate testing and certification | 12 |
| opportunities at locations in Springfield and Chicago with the | 13 |
| Center for Guardianship Certification. The cost of | 14 |
| certification shall be considered an expense connected with the | 15 |
| operation of the public guardian's office within the meaning of | 16 |
| subsection (b) of Section 13-3.1 of this Article.
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| (755 ILCS 5/13-3.1) (from Ch. 110 1/2, par. 13-3.1)
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| Sec. 13-3.1.
(a) Compensation of public guardian.) In | 19 |
| counties having a population
in excess of 1,000,000 the public | 20 |
| guardian shall be paid an annual salary,
to be set by the | 21 |
| County Board at a figure not to exceed the salary of the
public | 22 |
| defender for the county. All expenses connected with the | 23 |
| operation
of the office shall be subject to the approval of the | 24 |
| County Board and shall
be paid from the county treasury. All |
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| fees collected shall be paid into
the county treasury.
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| (b) In counties having a population of 1,000,000 or less | 3 |
| the public guardian shall receive all the fees of his office | 4 |
| and bear the expenses connected with the operation of the | 5 |
| office. A public guardian shall be entitled to reasonable and | 6 |
| appropriate compensation for services related to guardianship | 7 |
| duties but all fees must be reviewed and approved by the court. | 8 |
| A public guardian may petition the court for the payment of | 9 |
| reasonable and appropriate fees. In counties having a | 10 |
| population of 1,000,000 or less, the public guardian shall do | 11 |
| so on not less than a yearly basis, or sooner as approved by | 12 |
| the court. Any fees or expenses charged by a public guardian | 13 |
| shall be documented through billings and maintained by the | 14 |
| guardian and supplied to the court for review. In considering | 15 |
| the reasonableness of any fee petition brought by a public | 16 |
| guardian under this Section, the court shall consider the | 17 |
| following: | 18 |
| (1) the powers and duties assigned to the public | 19 |
| guardian by the court; | 20 |
| (2) the necessity of any services provided; | 21 |
| (3) the time required, the degree of difficulty, and | 22 |
| the experience needed to complete the task; | 23 |
| (4) the needs of the ward and the costs of | 24 |
| alternatives; and | 25 |
| (5) other facts and circumstances material to the best | 26 |
| interests of the ward or his or her estate. |
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| (c) When the public guardian is appointed as the temporary | 2 |
| guardian of a disabled adult pursuant to an emergency petition | 3 |
| under circumstances when the court finds that the immediate | 4 |
| establishment of a temporary guardianship is necessary to | 5 |
| protect the disabled adult's health, welfare, or estate, the | 6 |
| public guardian shall be entitled to reasonable and appropriate | 7 |
| fees, as determined by the court, for the period of the | 8 |
| temporary guardianship, including fees directly associated | 9 |
| with establishing the temporary guardianship. | 10 |
| (Source: P.A. 81-1052.)
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| (755 ILCS 5/13-5) (from Ch. 110 1/2, par. 13-5)
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| Sec. 13-5.
Powers and duties of public guardian.) The court | 13 |
| may appoint
the public guardian as the guardian of any disabled | 14 |
| adult who is in need
of a public guardian and whose estate | 15 |
| exceeds $25,000. When a disabled adult
who has a smaller estate | 16 |
| is in need of guardianship services, the court
shall appoint | 17 |
| the State guardian pursuant to Section 30 of the Guardianship
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| and Advocacy Act.
If the public guardian is appointed guardian | 19 |
| of a disabled adult and the
estate of the disabled adult is | 20 |
| thereafter reduced to less than $25,000, the
court may, upon | 21 |
| the petition of the public guardian and the approval by the
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| court of a final accounting of the disabled adult's estate, | 23 |
| discharge the
public guardian and transfer the guardianship to | 24 |
| the State guardian. The
public guardian shall serve not less | 25 |
| than 14 days' notice to the State guardian
of the hearing date |
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| regarding the transfer.
When appointed by the court, the public | 2 |
| guardian has the
same powers and duties as other guardians | 3 |
| appointed under this Act, with
the following additions and | 4 |
| modifications:
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| (a) The public guardian shall monitor the ward and his care | 6 |
| and progress
on a continuous basis. Monitoring shall at minimum | 7 |
| consist of monthly
contact with the ward, and the receipt of | 8 |
| periodic reports from all
individuals and agencies, public or | 9 |
| private, providing care or related
services to the ward.
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| (b) Placement of a ward outside of the ward's home may be | 11 |
| made only after
the public guardian or his representative has | 12 |
| visited the facility in which
placement is proposed.
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| (c) The public guardian shall prepare an inventory of the | 14 |
| ward's belongings
and assets and shall maintain insurance on | 15 |
| all of the ward's real and personal
property. No personal | 16 |
| property shall be removed from the ward's possession
except for | 17 |
| storage pending final placement or for liquidation in | 18 |
| accordance
with this Act.
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| (d) The public guardian shall make no substantial | 20 |
| distribution of the
ward's estate without a court order.
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| (e) The public guardian may liquidate assets of the ward to | 22 |
| pay for the
costs of the ward's care and for storage of the | 23 |
| ward's personal property
only after notice of such pending | 24 |
| action is given to all potential heirs
at law, unless notice is | 25 |
| waived by the court; provided, however, that a
person who has | 26 |
| been so notified may elect to pay for care or storage or
to pay |
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| fair market value of the asset or assets sought to be sold in | 2 |
| lieu
of liquidation.
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| (f) Real property of the ward may be sold at fair market | 4 |
| value after an
appraisal of the property has been made by a | 5 |
| licensed appraiser; provided,
however, that the ward's | 6 |
| residence may be sold only if the court finds that
the ward is | 7 |
| not likely to be able to return home at a future date.
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| (g) The public guardian shall, at such intervals as the | 9 |
| court may direct,
submit to the court an affidavit setting | 10 |
| forth in detail the services he
has provided for the benefit of | 11 |
| the ward. The court shall set reasonable
and appropriate fees | 12 |
| for such services.
Except in a county that has
a population | 13 |
| exceeding 3,000,000 people, the
public guardian may petition | 14 |
| the court for the payment of reasonable and
appropriate fees on | 15 |
| not less than a quarterly basis, or sooner as approved by
the | 16 |
| court.
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| (h) Upon the death of the ward, the public guardian shall | 18 |
| turn over to
the court-appointed administrator all of the | 19 |
| ward's assets and an account
of his receipt and administration | 20 |
| of the ward's property. A guardian ad
litem shall be appointed | 21 |
| for an accounting when the estate exceeds the amount
set in | 22 |
| Section 25-1 of this Act for administration of small estates.
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| (i) (1) On petition of any person who appears to have an | 24 |
| interest in
the estate, the court by temporary order may | 25 |
| restrain the public guardian
from performing specified | 26 |
| acts of administration, disbursement or distribution,
or |
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| from exercise of any powers or discharge of any duties of | 2 |
| his office,
or make any other order to secure proper | 3 |
| performance of his duty, if it
appears to the court that | 4 |
| the public guardian might otherwise take some
action | 5 |
| contrary to the best interests of the ward. Persons with | 6 |
| whom the
public guardian may transact business may be made | 7 |
| parties.
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| (2) The matter shall be set for hearing within 10 days | 9 |
| unless the parties
otherwise agree or unless for good cause | 10 |
| shown the court determines that
additional time is | 11 |
| required. Notice as the court directs shall be given
to the | 12 |
| public guardian and his attorney of record, if any, and to | 13 |
| any other
parties named defendant in the petition.
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| (j) On petition of the public guardian, the court in its | 15 |
| discretion may
for good cause shown transfer guardianship to | 16 |
| the State guardian.
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| (k) No later than January 31 of each year, the public | 18 |
| guardian shall file
an annual report with the clerk of the | 19 |
| Circuit Court, indicating, with respect
to the period covered | 20 |
| by the report, the number of cases which he has handled,
the | 21 |
| date on which each case was assigned, the date of termination | 22 |
| of each
case which has been closed during the period, the | 23 |
| disposition of each
terminated case, and the total amount of | 24 |
| fees collected during the period
from each ward.
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| (l) (Blank). When the public guardian is appointed | 26 |
| temporary guardian of a disabled
adult pursuant to an emergency |
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| petition under circumstances where the court
finds that the | 2 |
| immediate establishment of a temporary guardianship is | 3 |
| necessary
to protect the disabled adult's health, welfare, or | 4 |
| estate, the public guardian
shall be entitled to reasonable and | 5 |
| appropriate fees, as determined by the
court, for the period of | 6 |
| the temporary guardianship, including fees directly
associated | 7 |
| with establishing the temporary guardianship.
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| (Source: P.A. 92-840, eff. 8-22-02.)
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