Senators amend, advance proposal to protect vulnerable adults

Lawmakers amended and advanced a bill to select file Jan. 27 that would make changes to Nebraska’s guardian and conservatorship system for vulnerable adults.

Lincoln Sen. Colby Coash, sponsor of LB157, said the bill is a result of recommendations made by a task force of lawmakers, attorneys, judges, law enforcement and practitioners. The chief justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court brought the group together, he said, with the hope of strengthening the guardian and conservatorship system.

“We want judges to have all the information we can provide them in order for them to make good decisions,” Coash said. “But we didn’t want to make the process so burdensome that we would prohibit [individuals] from serving as guardians.”

A Coash amendment, adopted 42-0, replaced the bill and would require that a potential guardian/conservator complete a background check – including criminal history, sex offender and central register checks – and file the results with the court 10 days prior to an appointment hearing.

Exceptions to the background check requirements would include financial institutions serving as conservators and expedited, temporary and emergency guardian/conservator appointments.

A provision that also would have required a credit check was removed during debate Jan. 26 by an amendment brought by Norfolk Sen. Mike Flood. Credit reports could become public record as part of the official court file, he said.

“In the age of identity theft, a credit report is gold to a thief,” he said.

In addition, Flood said, such a requirement could dissuade individuals who otherwise would be willing to be guardians or conservators.

“I’m concerned that they may not want to serve if we make the bar too high,” he said.

Flood’s amendment was adopted on a 33-6 vote.

Among other provisions, the bill would require a guardian/conservator to:
file his or her papers with the register of deeds in each county in which the ward owns property or property interest;
file an inventory of the ward’s assets within 30 days of an appointment and mail it to all interested persons;
obtain court permission to move the ward’s place of abode outside the state; and
furnish a bond on a ward’s assets if they exceed $10,000.

Under a Flood amendment, adopted 41-0, the bond could be waived for good cause, and would not be required for banks or other financial institutions serving as a conservator.

As amended, LB157 also would allow the court to refer contested guardian/conservator cases to mediation or other form of dispute resolution. Finally, the bill would allow a judge to intervene when an interested person submits concerns, through an affidavit, that a ward’s safety, health or financial welfare is at risk.

Senators advanced the bill to select file on a 41-0 vote.