Remove guardianship barriers across state lines

PRIME – July 2014 By Linda F. Fitzgerald AARP State President Imagine this scenario: For the past 10 years, you have been the legal guardian of your ailing mother, who lived with you. When Mom's health declined, she was moved to a facility close to your home. Now you have relocated to Massachusetts for the perfect job opportunity, but once settled in the Commonwealth, you realize that your rights as your Mom's legal guardian do not translate to the Bay State. What do you do? A court may appoint a legal guardian on behalf of someone deemed incapable of managing his or her personal decisions or property. Those decisions can be related to medical care, living arrange-ments and financial issues. As a judicial proceeding, legal guardianship orders can be expensive, time consuming and complex, but if done correctly, can help prevent elder abuse and financial exploitation. As our society becomes more mobile, however, issues with guardianship orders – jurisdictional, transfer and recognition – may cause conflicts. AARP strongly supports the passage of the Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings and Jurisdiction Act (UAGPPJA) to ensure that only one state will have jurisdiction of guardianship at any one time. Massachusetts is currently one of 12 states without a UAGPPJA, which means that, among other things, it does not recognize guardianship orders from states where the law has been enacted and vice versa. This can mean a slow court process and can be expensive for family members trying to navigate the laws of other states on complex adult guardianship matters. When it comes to adult guardianship and caring for elders, legislators must consider the facts. People are living longer and are more mobile, and when families decide to relocate to another state, the expensive and time-consuming process of filing guardianship orders – for a second time – should not be burdensome. Why should Massachusetts adopt the UAGPPJA? • It puts the focus on care, not courts: Forcing guardians to spend time caught up in lengthy and expensive court proceedings undermines their ability to provide care for their loved ones. • It offers big benefit, no cost: Changing the law to recognize the role of guardians across state lines will come at no cost to Massachusetts taxpayers, but will greatly ease the burden these guardians face in providing quality care to their loved ones. • It prevents abuse: It prohibits someone who wrongfully seeks control and assets of an elder (or anyone else) from taking a person across state lines and immediately being named guardian. • It's a common-sense solution: Thirty eight states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have already recognized the burden that guardians face in trying to provide care across state lines and have adopted a common sense approach to ease this burden. Guardians in our state should be able to benefit from the same common sense approach. If adopted, this act will solve the jurisdictional, transfer, and out of state recognition and enforcement problems. Concerning the jurisdictional issue, it would create a clear process for determining which state has jurisdiction to appoint a guardian or conservator if there is a conflict. The individual's "home state" would have primary jurisdiction, followed by a state in which the individual has a "significant connection." When transferring or accepting a transferred guardianship, the Act clearly outlines procedures, thereby helping families eliminate the expense and wait. Finally, the UAGPPJA helps enforce guardianship and protective orders in other states by authorizing a guardian or conservator to register the orders in other states. AARP strongly supports the creation of the UAGPPJA in Massachusetts to provide uniformity and reduce jurisdictional conflicts with other states. The Act will help save time and money for guardians and conservators, allowing them to make important decisions for their loved ones as quickly as possible. You can find resources for guardianship in Massachusetts online on the Massachusetts Guardianship Association website at www.massguardianshipassociation.org , and information on providing legal guardianship for an adult, including elders who have problems with decision-making or physical impairment, intellectual disabilities, mental health concerns and/or medical conditions. AARP is fighting for this to become law. Call the AARP Massachusetts Advocacy Hotline at 1-888-259-9789 and contact your Legislator to urge swift passage of SB 2165 (UAGPPJA). For more information, please contact AARP Massachusetts at 1-866-448-3621, email at ma@aarp.org or visit the website at www.aarp.org/ma. Linda F. Fitzgerald is the volunteer state president of AARP Massachusetts, which serves more than 800,000 members age 50 and older in the Bay State. Connect with AARP Massachusetts online at www.aarp.org/ma ; www.facebook.com/AARPMA and www.twitter.com/AARPMA .