Thursday, May 18, 2017

NEW GUARDIANSHIP STATUTE ELIMINATES “GAP” AND TIME DELAY IN APPOINTMENT OF GUARDIAN FOR DISABLED MINOR APPROACHING ADULT AGE



On May 2, 2017, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed HB2247 authorizing the filing of a petition and conducting of a hearing for appointment of a guardian for a disabled minor child within ninety (90) days prior to the child reaching age eighteen (18).  Prior to the passing of this new statute, the parents of the disabled child were required to wait until the child reached his/her 18th birthday before being permitted to file a petition and thereafter (approximately 30 days following the date of filing) having a hearing to seek appointment of a guardian over their now adult disabled child.

Under the new statute there will be no “gap” or lag time between the child arriving at age 18 and the date of a hearing on the matter, since the court order under this new procedure will become effective automatically when the child reaches 18.  Under the existing law, no petition for a disabled child was permitted to be filed until after the child turned 18, thus causing a “gap” in time during which no guardian was in place until a hearing was conducted, usually within a month after filing the petition. 

This new procedure will relieve the minds of many parents who have expressed concern to me about something happening during the “gap” period when no guardian has yet to be appointed because the hearing to appoint a guardian has not yet occurred but their child has already reached age 18. 

With the new statute, though parental authority technically ceases when the child reaches 18, if the new statutory procedure is implemented after a hearing is conducted (sometime during the 90 days prior to the child reaching the age of 18), the parents will become guardians on the child’s 18th birthday and there will then be no loss of authority/watch-care over their disabled child, a welcome relief to many parents.

The statute becomes effective November 1, 2017. 

Curtis J. Shacklett, Esq.
Barber & Bartz, P.C.
525 S. Main St., Ste. 800
Tulsa, OK 74103-4511
Telephone: (918) 599-7755
Facsimile: (918) 599-7756