[WSBAPT] Appointing Standby Guardian as Guardian in King County

[deborah at neillaw.com]

In some counties, you just need to petition for appointment of a successor guardian.  Your successor should have done the lay guardian training, filed an oath and be ready to serve.  It can be helpful if there is a declaration from the facility recommending appointment of the standby. It’s possible the court will require the appointment of a GAL to investigate the suitability of the successor.  Make sure the order appointing GAL is limited and doesn’t include obtaining a medical report.  The person is already adjudicated to be incapacitated and those issues should not need to be re-addressed.

Deborah Jameson
(Pronouns: she/her/hers)

Neil & Neil, P.S.
5302 Pacific Avenue
Tacoma, WA  98408
253-475-8600
253-473-5746 FAX

If your matter is urgent, please call my office.  Also, this message is not encrypted and it may not be secure or protected by attorney-client privilege.


On Apr 11, 2021, at 9:56 PM, Andrekita Silva <ak at seattle-silvalaw.com> wrote:

Law Office of
F.ANDREKITA SILVA
________________________________________________________________________
 
.                                                                                      April 11, 2021          
 
Steven,
 
I haven’t done one of these but I was reviewing the new Guardianship statute for purposes Guardianship of a Minor.  Since I’d seen your question, I looked to see if the currently effective statute gave guidance.
 
As I read RCW 11.88.125 (2)(a) (which is effective until January 1, 2022 when 11.130 becomes effective), you don’t start from scratch.  You file a Petition within the current action.  Presumably, in the past, when the prior guardian was appointed, notices were sent advising of who the Standby was. 

The statute says that upon the death (or incapacity) of the regularly appointed guardian,
 
“ then the standby guardian … shall have all the powers, duties, and obligations of the regularly appointed guardian ….  and in addition shall, within a period of thirty days from the death … of the regularly appointed guardian … , file with the superior court in the county in which the guardianship …  is then being administered, a petition for appointment of a substitute guardian or limited guardian. Upon the court's appointment of a new, substitute guardian or limited guardian, the standby guardian or standby limited guardian shall make an accounting and report to be approved by the court, and upon approval of the court, the standby guardian or standby limited guardian shall be released from all duties and obligations arising from or out of the guardianship or limited guardianship.”
 
I don’t know about adult guardianships, but non-parent custody actions are being given a certain amount of time to transition to the new statute which, much of it for minors became effect on 1/21.  So, you may want to look to see what, if anything, will be required next year under 11.130.

So, standby still has to post a bond and give  notice etc but it doesn't look like you start from scratch. 
 
 
andrekita
Law Office of F. Andrekita Silva
1325 Fourth Avenue, Suite 2000
Seattle, Washington 98101
206-224-8288
www.seattle-silvalaw.com <http://www.seattle-silvalaw.com/>
 










Quoting Roger Hawkes <Roger at law-hawks.com <mailto:Roger at law-hawks.com>>:

> Please share what you learn.
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> From: wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> On Behalf Of steve mcconnell
> Sent: Saturday, April 10, 2021 4:06 PM
> To: wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com
> Subject: [WSBAPT] Appointing Standby Guardian as Guardian in King County
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> I represent the Guardian in a guardianship for an incapacitated person, her son, who has resided in Fircrest for over 40 years. The Guardian recently passed away and I need to have the current Standby Guardian, the sister of the incapacitated person, appointed as Guardian and would like to do that at the same time that we submit the three-year guardianship report as that deadline is fast approaching. I have not done this previously and it is unclear to me whether I need to go through the same process followed when a guardian is initially appointed or whether there is a more expeditious process that can be followed. If anyone could provide some guidance in this regard it would be very much appreciated.
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> Thanks in advance.
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> Steven M. McConnell
> Attorney at Law
> 144 Railroad Ave., Suite 308
> Edmonds, WA  98020-4100
> Tel:  (206) 783-0201
> Fax: (206) 789-5199
> Email:  smcconnelllaw at hotmail.com <mailto:smcconnelllaw at hotmail.com>
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