In Re: Amendments to Florida Probate Rules - 2023 Legislation

CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedDecember 14, 2023
DocketSC2023-1477
StatusPublished

This text of In Re: Amendments to Florida Probate Rules - 2023 Legislation (In Re: Amendments to Florida Probate Rules - 2023 Legislation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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In Re: Amendments to Florida Probate Rules - 2023 Legislation, (Fla. 2023).

Opinion

Supreme Court of Florida ____________

No. SC2023-1477 ____________

IN RE: AMENDMENTS TO FLORIDA PROBATE RULES—2023 LEGISLATION.

December 14, 2023

PER CURIAM.

The Florida Bar’s Probate Rules Committee has filed a fast-

track report proposing amendments to Florida Probate Rules 5.630

(Petition for Approval of Acts), 5.649 (Guardian Advocate), 5.904

(Forms for Initial and Annual Guardianship Plans), 5.905 (Form for

Petition, Notice, and Order for Appointment of Guardian Advocate of

the Person), 5.906 (Letters of Guardian Advocacy), and 5.920

(Forms Related to Injunction for Protection Against Exploitation of a

Vulnerable Adult). 1 The Committee also proposes the addition of

new rule 5.631 (Petition for Approval by Professional Guardian for

Order Not to Resuscitate or to Withhold Life-Prolonging Procedures).

1. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 2(a), Fla. Const.; see also Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.140(e). The proposed amendments are in response to recently enacted

legislation. See chs. 2021-221, 2023-213, 2023-287, Laws of Fla.

The Board of Governors of The Florida Bar unanimously approved

the proposed amendments. Having considered the Committee’s

report and the relevant legislation, we hereby amend the Florida

Probate Rules as proposed by the Committee. Some of the more

significant changes are discussed below.

Rule 5.630(a) (Contents) is amended to include a reference to

section 744.422, Florida Statutes. Also, in response to the repeal of

section 744.441(2), Florida Statutes, by chapter 2023-287, section

6, Laws of Florida, subdivisions (a)(2) and (d) (Hearings) of rule

5.630 are deleted and the remaining subdivisions are reorganized

accordingly.

New rule 5.631 is added in response to the enactment of

section 744.4431, Florida Statutes, by chapter 2023-287, section 5,

Laws of Florida. The new rule addresses the procedure for seeking

approval by the professional guardian for an order not to

resuscitate or to withhold life-prolonging procedures.

Rule 5.649 is amended to include new subdivision (a)(10). The

new subdivision requires that a petition for appointment of a

-2- guardian advocate state whether authority is sought to seek

periodic support of the person with a developmental disability.

And lastly, rule 5.904(c) (Initial Guardianship Plan for Adult)

and (d) (Annual Guardianship Plan for Adult) are amended to

require a guardian to list any preexisting orders not to resuscitate,

healthcare surrogate decisions, living wills, or anatomical gifts.

Accordingly, the Florida Probate Rules are amended as

reflected in the appendix to this opinion. New language is indicated

by underscoring; deletions are indicated by struck-through type.

The amendments shall take effect immediately upon the release of

this opinion. Because the amendments were not published for

comment prior to their adoption, interested persons have 75 days

from the date of this opinion in which to file comments with the

Court. 2

2. All comments must be filed with the Court on or before February 27, 2024, with a certificate of service verifying that a copy has been served on the Committee Chair, Alexandra V. Rieman, GAPS Legal, PLLC, 1580 Sawgrass Corporate Parkway Suite 130, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33323-2860, alex@gapsattorneys.com, and on the Bar Staff Liaison to the Committee, Heather Savage Telfer, 651 E. Jefferson Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2300, rules@floridabar.org, as well as a separate request for oral argument if the person filing the comment wishes to participate in oral argument, which may be scheduled in this case. The

-3- It is so ordered.

MUÑIZ, C.J., and CANADY, LABARGA, COURIEL, GROSSHANS, FRANCIS, and SASSO, JJ., concur.

THE FILING OF A MOTION FOR REHEARING SHALL NOT ALTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THESE AMENDMENTS.

Original Proceeding – Florida Probate Rules

Alexandra V. Rieman, Chair, Florida Probate Rules Committee, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Joshua E. Doyle, Executive Director, The Florida Bar, Tallahassee, Florida, and Heather Savage Telfer, Bar Liaison, The Florida Bar, Tallahassee, Florida,

for Petitioner

Committee Chair has until March 19, 2024, to file a response to any comments filed with the Court. If filed by an attorney in good standing with The Florida Bar, the comment must be electronically filed via the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal (Portal). If filed by a nonlawyer or a lawyer not licensed to practice in Florida, the comment may be, but is not required to be, filed via the Portal. Any person unable to submit a comment electronically must mail or hand-deliver the originally signed comment to the Florida Supreme Court, Office of the Clerk, 500 South Duval Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1927.

-4- APPENDIX

RULE 5.630. PETITION FOR APPROVAL OF ACTS

(a) Contents.

(1) When authorization or confirmation of any act of the guardian is required under sections 744.422 or 744.441(1), Florida Statutes, application shallmust be made by verified petition stating the facts showing:

(A1) the expediency or necessity for the action;

(B2) a description of any property involved;

(C3) the price and terms of any sale, mortgage, or other contract;

(D4) whether the ward has been adjudicated incapacitated to act with respect to the rights to be exercised;

(E5) whether the action requested conforms to the guardianship plan; and

(F6) the basis for the relief sought.

(2) When authorization or confirmation of any act of the guardian is required under section 744.441(2), Florida Statutes, application shall be made by verified petition attaching any affidavits and supporting documentation, including any living will, and stating the facts showing:

(A) the name and location of the ward;

(B) the names, relationship to the ward, and addresses if known to the guardian, of:

(i) the ward’s spouse and adult children,

(ii) the ward’s parents,

-5- (iii) the ward’s next of kin,

(iv) any guardian and any court-appointed health care decision-maker,

(v) any person designated by the ward in a living will or other document to exercise the ward’s health care decision in the event of the ward’s incapacity,

(vi) the administrator of the hospital, nursing home, or other facility where the ward is located,

(vii) the ward’s principal treating physician and other physicians known to have provided any medical opinion or advice about any condition of the ward relevant to this petition, and

(viii) all other persons the guardian believes may have information concerning the expressed wishes of the ward; and

(C) facts sufficient to establish the need for the relief requested.

(b) Notice. No notice of a petition to authorize sale of perishable personal property or of property rapidly deteriorating shall beis required. Notice of a petition to perform any other act requiring a court order shallmust be given to the ward, to the next of kin, if any, and to those persons who have filed requests for notices and copies of pleadings.

(c) Order.

(1) If the act is authorized or confirmed, the order shallmust describe the permitted act and authorize the guardian to perform it or confirm its performance.

(2) If a sale or mortgage is authorized or confirmed, the order shallmust describe the property. If a sale is to be private, the order shallmust specify the price and the terms of the sale. If a sale

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