APPLICATION OF REVISED CHAPTER 744 TO EXISTING GUARDIANSHIPS

1989 Revision by Ad Hoc Committee: The committee adopted a position that guardians appointed before the effective date of the 1989 revisions to chapter 744, Florida Statutes, should comply with all sections of the law that apply to future acts of the guardian. For example, all guardians will in the future file annual reports and will be responsible for the continuing well-being of their wards. The committee recognized a distinction between those actions that will necessarily occur on a continuing basis throughout the guardianship and those actions that happen at a particular moment in time but are not necessarily ongoing duties. There are two and only two specific examples to which the statutory reforms would not apply retrospectively if the above distinction is adopted. First, the initial adjudication of incapacity occurs only once in any guardianship. Although guardianships are reevaluated annually, the statute does not contemplate a complete readjudication procedure every year. Therefore, the committee concluded that the initial adjudicatory hearing need not be repeated for wards adjudicated incompetent before October 1, 1989. Second, as concerns nonresident guardians appointed before October 1, 1989, normally, a guardian is appointed only once at the beginning of the guardianship. While these nonresident guardians would be expected to obey all provisions of the law prospectively, they would not be required to initiate their own removal.

1991 Revision: Editorial changes in first sentence of (a), and rest of subdivision deleted as unnecessary. Subdivision (b) has been transferred to rule 5.650. Date reference no longer required in (c), and modified to make filing requirement of preexisting guardianships consistent with the current statutory provisions.

1992 Revision: Citation form changes in committee notes. Statutory References § 744.367, Fla. Stat. Duty to file annual guardianship report. § 744.3675, Fla. Stat. Annual guardianship plan. § 744.3678, Fla. Stat. Annual accounting. Rule References Fla. Prob. R. 5.695 Annual guardianship report. Fla. Prob. R. 5.696 Annual accounting.