2011 Legislation

The 82nd Texas Legislature ended its regular session May 30, 2011. All probate, guardianship and trust bills passed during the session have been signed by the Governor, and most become effective September 1, 2011. One bill in the first called session (SB 1) contains guardianship changes and, as of July 8, 2011, was awaiting the Governor's signature. Each bill affecting probate, guardianship and trust law is listed below. Click here to search for a particular bill, or use the list of topics and key words to the right to find legislation.

Useful links:

Texas Legislature Online.
Glenn Karisch's 2011 Legislative Update.
Bill Pargaman's 2011 Legislative Update -- All of the bills, the full text of all of the changes to the probate and trust codes and helpful forms.
Top Ten Things to Do Now -- Glenn Karisch's list of ten things estate planning and probate attorneys should do to address the legislative changes taking effect September 1, 2011. Here are the pdf and blog versions.

All bills are labeled "Awaiting Governor's Signature," "Enacted," or "Did Not Pass."
____________________________________________________________________

Entries in Duncan (2)

Tuesday

May312011

Awaiting Governor's Signature: SB 1 (First Called Session) -- Transfers of guardianships

Caption: Relating to certain state fiscal matters; providing penalties.
Author: Duncan, Shapiro
Bill History
Bill Text

Relevance: In a rarity for probate and guardianship legislation, SB1 in the First Called (Special) Session makes some changes to the guardianship portion of the Probate Code. It is primarily a school finance bill, but it has been loaded up with provisions from bills which failed to pass during the regular session. It makes a number of changes to the provisions regarding transfer of guardianship proceedings (Sections 612, 613, 614, 615, 616, 617, 618 and 619), including requiring the guardian of a guardianship that is transferred to give a new bond payable to the court to which the guardianship is transferred or to file a rider to the existing bond noting the court to which the guardianship is transferred. (Section 614) The bill also requires the court to which the guardianship is transferred to conduct a hearing within 90 days to consider modifying the rights, duties, and powers of the guardian. (Section 619) SB1 also alters the procedures for dealing with interstate guardianships (Sections 892, 893, 894 and 895). New Section 895 provides a means for a court in which a guardianship proceeding is pending to determine if it is the most appropriate forum for the guardianship.

36 References |

x-Did Not Pass: SB 1299 -- Recodification of guardianship statutes

Caption: Relating to the nonsubstantive revision of provisions of the Texas Probate Code relating to durable powers of attorney, guardianships, and other related proceedings and alternatives, and the redesignation of certain other provisions of the Texas Probate Code, including conforming amendments and repeals.
Author: Duncan
Bill History
Bill Text

Relevance: This is the recodification of the guardianship portion of the Probate Code, as well as the power of attorney portion of the Probate Code, into the new Estates Code, to be effective January 1, 2014. This is intended as a nonsubstantive revision of those statutes and was prepared by the Legislative Council.