In re Guardianship of Kapitula

899 A.2d 250, 153 N.H. 492, 2006 N.H. LEXIS 65
CourtSupreme Court of New Hampshire
DecidedMay 17, 2006
DocketNo. 2005-005
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 899 A.2d 250 (In re Guardianship of Kapitula) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of New Hampshire primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Guardianship of Kapitula, 899 A.2d 250, 153 N.H. 492, 2006 N.H. LEXIS 65 (N.H. 2006).

Opinion

Broderick, C.J.

This appeal arises from an order of the Merrimack County Probate Court (Hampa, J.) appointing a guardian over the person of the respondent, Theodore Kapitula. We affirm.

The record supports the following. The respondent was involuntarily admitted to the New Hampshire Hospital in August 2004 for an eighteen-month period. In November 2004, the New Hampshire Hospital filed a petition for guardianship. At the hearing on the petition, the probate court heard testimony from Tracey Parks, R.N., and David Corson, M.D., the respondent’s primary nurse and attending psychiatrist, respectively, from July to November 2004; and from the respondent. On December 7, 2004, the probate court found, pursuant to RSA 464-A:9, III(a)-(d) (2004), that the respondent was incapacitated, and appointed the office of public guardian as guardian over his person. This appeal followed.

The respondent contends that the probate court erred because: (1) it employed “rote recitation” of RSA 464-A:9, III(a)-(d) in its guardianship order and thus failed to satisfy that statute’s requirements that the probate court “make the specific findings enumerated by those statutory provisions”; (2) it ordered a guardianship over the person based upon findings that were not expressly stated to be beyond a reasonable doubt; and (3) it “placed too much weight on the petitioner’s witnesses and not enough weight on [his] testimony.” With regard to his first two issues, the [494]*494respondent has made no argument that the evidence presented was either insufficient to support the probate court findings, or insufficient to support those findings beyond a reasonable doubt. These two issues involve the language of RSA 464-A:9, III.

Because resolution of [these issues] requires statutory interpretation, which is a matter of law, we review the trial court’s decision de novo. In matters of statutory interpretation, we are the final arbiter of the intent of the legislature as expressed in the words of a statute considered as a whole. We begin our analysis by looking to the language of the statute itself. If the language is plain and unambiguous, then we need not look beyond it for further indication of legislative intent.

State v. Merriam, 150 N.H. 548, 549 (2004) (citations omitted). Further, in construing a statute, we will neither consider what the legislature might have said nor add words that it did not see fit to include. In re Juvenile 2004-789, 153 N.H. 332, 336 (2006).

The statute at issue reads, in pertinent part:

I. The court, at a hearing convened under this chapter, shall:
(a) Inquire into the nature and extent of the functional limitations of the proposed ward; and
(b) Ascertain his or her capacity to care for himself or herself or his or her estate.
II. If it is determined that the proposed ward possesses the capacity to care for himself or his estate, the court shall dismiss the petition.
III. Alternatively, the court may appoint a guardian of the person and estate* or the person or the estate, as requested in the petition and confer specific powers of guardianship on the proposed guardian, or appoint co-guardians, one of the person and one of the estate, after finding in the record based on evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that:
(a) The person for whom a guardian is to be appointed is incapacitated; and
(b) The guardianship is necessary as a means of providing continuing care, supervision, and rehabilitation of the individual, or the management of the property and financial affairs of the incapacitated person; and
(c) There are no available alternative resources which are suitable with respect to the incapacitated person’s welfare, [495]*495safety, and rehabilitation or the prudent management of his or her property and financial affairs; and
(d) The guardianship is appropriate as the least restrictive form of intervention consistent with the preservation of the civil rights and liberties of the proposed ward.

RSA 464-A:9. The probate court order reads, in pertinent part:

After a hearing held at this court, and upon due consideration of the petition for guardianship filed by ... New Hampshire Hospital and all the evidence proffered thereon, the court renders the following findings as required by RSA 464-A:9, III(a)-(d), namely:
(a) ... Theodore Kapitula (“ward”) is incapacitated.
(b) Guardianship is necessary as a means of providing for the ward’s continuing care, supervision, and rehabilitation and for the prudent management of the ward’s property and financial affairs.
(c) There are no available alternative resources which are suitable with respect to the ward’s welfare, safety or rehabilitation and for the prudent management of the ward’s property and financial affairs.
(d) Guardianship is appropriate as the least restrictive form of intervention consistent with the preservation of the ward’s civil rights and liberties.

(Emphasis omitted.)

The respondent contends that RSA 464-A:9 requires the court to make “findings of basic or essential facts sufficient to support its ultimate determinations” and “an express ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ finding ... [because the statute] states that such a finding is to be made ‘in the record.’ ” We disagree. The statute requires that the probate court hold a hearing, at which the court must inquire into the nature and extent of the functional limitations of the proposed ward, and ascertain the proposed ward’s capacity to care for himself. That was done. The probate court may appoint a guardian over the person if it makes the findings set forth in paragraph III (a) through (d). These findings must be in the record, and must have been based upon evidence supporting them beyond a reasonable doubt. That, too, was done. Nothing in the plain language of the statute requires that the probate court provide written illumination of all facts used in making its ultimate findings with regard to paragraph III (a) through (d). Nor does the statute require that the probate court make an express written finding that its ultimate determination was proved beyond [496]*496a reasonable doubt. Instead, the statutory phrase “in the record” refers to the ultimate findings of paragraph III (a) through (d), and not to a recitation of the level of proof.

The respondent points to RSA 491:15 as supporting his argument. RSA 491:15 (1997) pertains to findings in the superior court and states:

The court or justice trying causes under RSA 491:13 and 491:14 shall, if either party requests it, give his decision in writing, stating the facts found and his rulings of law, which shall be filed and recorded.

Similarly, RSA 567-A:4 (1997), which governs probate court proceedings, states in pertinent part:

The judge of probate by whom a decree, order, appointment, grant or denial was made shall report the material facts found by him and his rulings of law, on request of any party entitled to appeal therefrom made before the entry of such decision.

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Bluebook (online)
899 A.2d 250, 153 N.H. 492, 2006 N.H. LEXIS 65, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-guardianship-of-kapitula-nh-2006.