744.2001 Office of Public and Professional Guardians.—There is created the Office of Public and Professional Guardians within the Department of Elderly Affairs. (1) The Secretary of Elderly Affairs shall appoint the executive director, who shall be the head of the Office of Public and Professional Guardians. The executive director must be a member of The Florida Bar, […]
744.2002 Professional guardian registration.— (1) A professional guardian must register with the Office of Public and Professional Guardians established in part II of this chapter. (2) Annual registration shall be made on forms furnished by the Office of Public and Professional Guardians and accompanied by the applicable registration fee as determined by rule. The fee may not exceed […]
744.2003 Regulation of professional guardians; application; bond required; educational requirements.— (1) The provisions of this section are in addition to and supplemental to any other provision of the Florida Guardianship Law, except s. 744.3145. (2) Each professional guardian who files a petition for appointment after October 1, 1997, shall post a blanket fiduciary bond with the clerk of […]
744.2004 Complaints; disciplinary proceedings; penalties; enforcement.— (1) By October 1, 2016, the Office of Public and Professional Guardians shall establish procedures to: (a) Review and, if determined legally sufficient, investigate any complaint that a professional guardian has violated the standards of practice established by the Office of Public and Professional Guardians governing the conduct of professional guardians. A […]
744.20041 Grounds for discipline; penalties; enforcement.— (1) The following acts by a professional guardian shall constitute grounds for which the disciplinary actions specified in subsection (2) may be taken: (a) Making misleading, deceptive, or fraudulent representations in or related to the practice of guardianship. (b) Violating any rule governing guardians or guardianships adopted by the Office of Public and […]
744.2005 Order of appointment.— (1) The court may hear testimony on the question of who is entitled to preference in the appointment of a guardian. Any interested person may intervene in the proceedings. (2) The order appointing a guardian must state the nature of the guardianship as either plenary or limited. If limited, the order must state that […]
744.2006 Office of Public and Professional Guardians; appointment, notification.— (1) The executive director of the Office of Public and Professional Guardians, after consultation with the chief judge and other circuit judges within the judicial circuit and with appropriate advocacy groups and individuals and organizations who are knowledgeable about the needs of incapacitated persons, may establish, within a […]
744.2007 Powers and duties.— (1) A public guardian may serve as a guardian of a person adjudicated incapacitated under this chapter if there is no family member or friend, other person, bank, or corporation willing and qualified to serve as guardian. (2) The public guardian shall be vested with all the powers and duties of a guardian under […]
744.2008 Costs of public guardian.— (1) All costs of administration shall be paid from the budget of the office of public guardian. No costs of administration, including filing fees, shall be recovered from the assets or the income of the ward. (2) In any proceeding for appointment of a public guardian, or in any proceeding involving the estate […]
744.2009 Preparation of budget.—Each public guardian, whether funded in whole or in part by money raised through local efforts, grants, or any other source or whether funded in whole or in part by the state, shall prepare a budget for the operation of the office of public guardian to be submitted to the Office of Public […]
744.2101 Procedures and rules.—The public guardian, subject to the oversight of the Office of Public and Professional Guardians, is authorized to: (1) Formulate and adopt necessary procedures to assure the efficient conduct of the affairs of the ward and general administration of the office and staff. (2) Contract for services necessary to discharge the duties of the office. […]
744.2102 Surety bond.—Upon taking office, a public guardian shall file a bond with surety as prescribed in s. 45.011 to be approved by the clerk. The bond shall be payable to the Governor and the Governor’s successors in office, in the penal sum of not less than $5,000 nor more than $25,000, conditioned on the faithful […]
744.2103 Reports and standards.— (1) The public guardian shall keep and maintain proper financial, case control, and statistical records on all matters in which the public guardian serves as guardian. (2) No report or disclosure of the ward’s personal and medical records shall be made, except as authorized by law. (3) A public guardian shall file an annual report […]
744.21031 Public records exemption.—The home addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, places of employment, and photographs of current or former public guardians and employees with fiduciary responsibility; the names, home addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, and places of employment of the spouses and children of such persons; and the names and locations of schools and […]
744.2104 Access to records by the Office of Public and Professional Guardians; confidentiality.— (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any medical, financial, or mental health records held by an agency, or the court and its agencies, or financial audits prepared by the clerk of the court pursuant to s. 744.368 and held by […]
744.2105 Direct-support organization; definition; use of property; board of directors; audit; dissolution.— (1) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term “direct-support organization” means an organization whose sole purpose is to support the Office of Public and Professional Guardians and is: (a) A not-for-profit corporation incorporated under chapter 617 and approved by the Department of State; (b) Organized and operated […]
744.2106 Joining Forces for Public Guardianship grant program; purpose.—The Legislature establishes the Joining Forces for Public Guardianship matching grant program for the purpose of assisting counties to establish and fund community-supported public guardianship programs. The Joining Forces for Public Guardianship matching grant program shall be established and administered by the Office of Public and Professional Guardians […]
744.2107 Program administration; duties of the Office of Public and Professional Guardians.—The Office of Public and Professional Guardians shall administer the grant program. The office shall: (1) Publicize the availability of grant funds to entities that may be eligible for the funds. (2) Establish an application process for submitting a grant proposal. (3) Request, receive, and review proposals from […]
744.2108 Eligibility.— (1) Any person or organization that has not been awarded a grant must meet all of the following conditions to be eligible to receive a grant: (a) The applicant must meet or directly employ staff that meet the minimum qualifications for a public guardian under this chapter. (b) The applicant must have already been appointed by, or […]
744.2109 Grant application requirements; review criteria; awards process.—Grant applications must be submitted to the Office of Public and Professional Guardians for review and approval. (1) A grant application must contain: (a) The specific amount of funds being requested. (b) The proposed annual budget for the office of public guardian for which the applicant is applying on behalf of, including […]
