HOUSE BILL NO. 4727

A bill to amend 1998 PA 386, entitled

"Estates and protected individuals code,"

by amending sections 5106, 5313, and 5409 (MCL 700.5106, 700.5313, and 700.5409), section 5106 as amended by 2017 PA 136, section 5313 as amended by 2024 PA 1, and section 5409 as amended by 2000 PA 463.

the people of the state of michigan enact:

Sec. 5106. (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), the court may appoint or approve a professional guardian or professional conservator, as appropriate, as a guardian or conservator under this act, or as a plenary guardian or partial guardian as those terms are defined in section 600 of the mental health code, 1974 PA 258, MCL 330.1600.

(2) The court shall only appoint a professional guardian or professional conservator as authorized under subsection (1) if the court finds on the record all of the following:

(a) The appointment of the professional guardian or professional conservator is in the ward's, developmentally disabled individual's, incapacitated individual's, or protected individual's best interests.

(b) There is no other person that is competent, suitable, and willing to serve in that fiduciary capacity in accordance with section 5212, 5313, or 5409.

(3) The court shall not appoint a professional guardian or professional conservator as authorized under subsection (1) unless the professional guardian or professional conservator files a bond in an amount and with the conditions as determined by the court. For a professional conservator, the sureties and liabilities of the bond are subject to sections 5410 and 5411.

(4) Beginning 2 years after the effective date of the amendatory act that added this sentence, except as otherwise provided in section 5313 or 5409, as applicable, the court shall not appoint a person as a professional guardian or professional conservator unless the person is or employs an individual licensed under article 14A of the occupational code, 1980 PA 299, MCL 339.1410 to 339.1413.

(5) (4) A professional guardian or professional conservator appointed under this section shall not receive as a result of that appointment a benefit beyond compensation specifically authorized for that type of fiduciary by this act or the mental health code, 1974 PA 258, MCL 330.1001 to 330.2106. This subsection does not prevent a person from providing compensation or other benefits, from a source other than the estate of the ward, developmentally disabled individual, incapacitated individual, or protected individual, to a professional guardian or professional conservator appointed or approved under this section. If a professional guardian or professional conservator appointed or approved under this section receives or is to receive compensation or other benefits as a result of that appointment from a person other than this state, a political subdivision of this state, or a trust created under section 5407(2), the professional guardian or professional conservator shall file with the appointing or approving court a written statement of the compensation or other benefit received or to be received, including the source of the compensation or other benefit, in a form and in a manner prescribed by the Michigan court rules. The professional guardian or professional conservator shall serve a copy of the form described in this subsection to the ward, developmentally disabled individual, incapacitated individual, or protected individual and to interested persons.

(6) (5) A professional guardian appointed under this section shall establish and maintain a schedule of visitation so that an individual associated with the professional guardian who is responsible for the ward's care visits the ward within 3 months after the professional guardian's appointment and not less than once within 3 months after each previous visit.

(7) (6) A Subject to subsection (8), a professional guardian appointed under this section shall ensure that there are a sufficient number of employees assigned to the care of wards for the purpose of performing the necessary duties associated with ensuring that proper and appropriate care is provided.

(8) Beginning 2 years after the effective date of the amendatory act that added this sentence, an employee of a professional guardian described in section 5313(3)(f) or an employee of a professional conservator described in section 5409(1)(h) shall not independently make medical, psychological, financial, legal, or housing decisions on behalf of a ward or protected individual, as applicable, unless the employee is licensed under article 14A of the occupational code, 1980 PA 299, MCL 339.1410 to 339.1413.

(9) (7) For the purposes of the statutory authorization required by section 1105(2)(e) of the banking code of 1999, 1999 PA 276, MCL 487.11105, to act as a fiduciary in this state, if the court appoints a for-profit or nonprofit, nonbanking corporation organized under the laws of this state to serve in a fiduciary capacity that is listed in subsection (1), the nonbanking corporation is authorized to act in that fiduciary capacity. The authorization under this subsection confers the fiduciary capacity only to the extent necessary in the particular matter of each appointment and is not a general grant of fiduciary authority. A nonbanking corporation is not authorized to act in any other fiduciary capacity.

Sec. 5313. (1) The court may appoint a competent person as guardian of a legally incapacitated individual. The court shall not appoint as a guardian an agency, public or private, that financially benefits from directly providing housing, medical, mental health, or social services to the legally incapacitated individual. If the court determines that the ward's property needs protection, the court shall order the guardian to furnish a bond or shall include restrictions in the letters of guardianship as necessary to protect the property.

(2) In appointing a guardian under this section, the court shall appoint a person, if suitable and willing to serve, in the following order of priority:

(a) A person previously appointed, qualified, and serving in good standing as guardian for the legally incapacitated individual in this state or another state.

(b) A person the individual subject to the petition chooses to serve as guardian.

(c) A person nominated as guardian in a durable power of attorney or other writing by the individual subject to the petition.

(d) A person named by the individual as a patient advocate or attorney in fact in a durable power of attorney.

(e) A person appointed by a parent or spouse of a legally incapacitated individual by will or other writing under section 5301.

(3) If there is no person chosen, nominated, or named under subsection (2), or if none of the persons listed in subsection (2) are suitable or willing to serve, the court may appoint as a guardian an individual who is related to the individual who is the subject of the petition in the following order of preference:

(a) The legally incapacitated individual's spouse. This subdivision is considered to include a person nominated by will or other writing signed by a deceased spouse.

(b) An adult child of the legally incapacitated individual.

(c) A parent of the legally incapacitated individual. This subdivision is considered to include a person nominated by will or other writing signed by a deceased parent.

(d) A relative of the legally incapacitated individual with whom the individual has resided for more than 6 months before the filing of the petition.

(e) A person nominated by a person who is caring for the legally incapacitated individual or paying benefits to the legally incapacitated individual.

(f) A person, other than an individual, that is a professional guardian or an individual professional guardian who is licensed under article 14A of the occupational code, 1980 PA 299, MCL 339.1410 to 339.1413.

(4) If none of the persons as designated or listed in subsection (2) or (3) are suitable or willing to serve, the court may appoint any competent person who is suitable and willing to serve, including a professional guardian as provided in section 5106.

Sec. 5409. (1) The court may appoint an individual, a corporation authorized to exercise fiduciary powers, or a professional conservator described in section 5106 to serve as conservator of a protected individual's estate. The following are entitled to consideration for appointment in the following order of priority:

(a) A conservator, guardian of property, or similar fiduciary appointed or recognized by the appropriate court of another jurisdiction in which the protected individual resides.

(b) An individual or corporation nominated by the protected individual if he or she is 14 years of age or older and of sufficient mental capacity to make an intelligent choice, including a nomination made in a durable power of attorney.

(c) The protected individual's spouse.

(d) An adult child of the protected individual.

(e) A parent of the protected individual or a person nominated by the will of a deceased parent.

(f) A relative of the protected individual with whom he or she has resided for more than 6 months before the petition is filed.

(g) A person nominated by the person who is caring for or paying benefits to the protected individual.

(h) A person, other than an individual, that is a professional conservator or an individual professional conservator who is licensed under article 14A of the occupational code, 1980 PA 299, MCL 339.1410 to 339.1413.

(i) (h) If none of the persons listed in subdivisions (a) to (g) (h) are suitable and willing to serve, any person that the court determines is suitable and willing to serve.

(2) A person named in subsection (1)(a), (c), (d), (e), or (f) may designate in writing a substitute to serve instead, and that designation transfers the priority to the substitute. If persons have equal priority, the court shall select the person the court considers best qualified to serve. Acting in the protected individual's best interest, the court may pass over a person having priority and appoint a person having a lower priority or no priority.

Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take effect unless House Bill No. 4728 (request no. H01902'25) of the 103rd Legislature is enacted into law.