An Act Regarding the Reporting Requirements of Conservators
Sec. 1. 18-A MRSA §5-419, sub-§(a), as amended by PL 2001, c. 280, §2, is further amended to read:
Prior to the termination of the protected person's minority, the conservator shall account to the court and the protected person. On termination of the protected person's minority or disability, a conservator shall file a final accounting with the court and that accounting must be approved by the court before the conservator's obligation to account ends. The conservator shall provide a copy of the final accounting to the former protected person or that person's personal representative at the time it is filed with the court.
Sec. 2. 18-A MRSA §5-430, as enacted by PL 1979, c. 540, §1, is amended to read:
§ 5-430. Termination of proceeding
The protected person, his the protected person's personal representative, the conservator or any other interested person may petition the court to terminate the conservatorship. A protected person seeking termination is entitled to the same rights and procedures as in an original proceeding for a protective order. The court, upon determining after notice and hearing that the minority or disability of the protected person has ceased, may shall terminate the conservatorship upon approval of a final account. Upon termination, title to assets of the estate passes to the former protected person or to his the former protected person's successors subject to provision in the order for expenses of administration or to conveyances from the conservator to the former protected persons person or his the former protected person's successors, to evidence the transfer.
Sec. 3. Guardian annual report working group. The Commissioner of Health and Human Services shall convene a working group consisting of staff from the Department of Health and Human Services, Adult Protective Services and interested parties, including, but not limited to, representatives of registers of probate, Legal Services for the Elderly, Disability Rights Center, attorneys in private practice, members of the public and such other persons as may be necessary to review the need for a practice requiring private guardians to make a detailed annual report to the Probate Court of the financial circumstances of the ward. The working group shall report its findings and recommendations to the Joint Standing Committee on Judiciary by January 11, 2008.