No. SB 960
Filed under Legal.
Persons Disqualified from Being Appointed as a Guardian; Authorizing a court to appoint a person who has been convicted of a felony to be a guardian of a ward or proposed ward under certain circumstances, etc.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDA felony conviction now disqualifies someone from guardianship only if it happened within the past 10 years, replacing a lifetime bar that applied no matter how long ago the conviction occurred.
For an older felony, a court may still appoint a close relative -- parent, child, sibling, spouse, grandparent, or grandchild -- as guardian if the person discloses the conviction and the court finds them fit to serve.
A guardian's felony conviction is no longer automatic grounds for removal if the court determines the same family, disclosure, timing, and fitness conditions used for appointment are met.
AIA felony conviction disqualifies someone from guardianship only if it occurred within the 10 years before the appointment, replacing a rule that barred anyone with a felony conviction regardless of when it occurred.
AIA court may appoint a person with a felony conviction more than 10 years old as guardian if they are a close relative of the ward, disclosed the conviction, and the court finds them able to serve appropriately.
AIBefore appointing a felon under the new exception, the court must determine that, despite the conviction, the person can carry out all guardian responsibilities appropriately and act in the ward's best interest.
AIA guardian is no longer automatically removable for a felony conviction if the court determines that all the conditions for the felon-guardian exception in s. 744.309(3)(e) are satisfied.