Chapter 416 Oregon Laws 2001

AN ACT

HB 2363

Relating to notice in protective proceedings; creating new provisions; and amending ORS 125.070.

Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:

SECTION 1. ORS 125.070 is amended to read:

125.070. (1) The notice required by ORS 125.060 must contain the following:

(a) The name, address and telephone number of the petitioner or the person making the motion, and the relationship of the petitioner or person making the motion to the respondent.

(b) A copy of the petition or motion.

(d) If a hearing has been set, the date, time and place of the hearing.

(2) In addition to the requirements of subsection (1) of this section, a notice of a petition for the appointment of a conservator for a respondent who is alleged to be financially incapable or a notice of a petition for the appointment of a guardian or conservator for a respondent who is a minor that is served on [a] the respondent [who is a minor] must contain the following:

(a) An explanation of the purpose and possible consequences of the petition.

(b) A statement that financial resources of the respondent may be used to pay court-approved expenditures of the proceeding.

(d) Information on any appointment of a visitor and the role of the visitor.

(e) A statement of the rights of the respondent as follows:

(A) The right to be represented by an attorney.

(B) The right to file a written or oral objection.

(D) The right to present evidence and cross-examine witnesses at any hearing.

(E) The right to request at any time that the power of the fiduciary be limited by the court.

(F) The right to request at any time the removal of the fiduciary or a modification of the protective order.

(3) In addition to the requirements of subsection (1) of this section, a notice of a petition for the appointment of a guardian for a respondent who is alleged to be incapacitated must contain a notice, printed in 14-point type, in substantially the following form:

______________________________________________________________________________

NOTICE TO RESPONDENT

To: Respondent_________:

_________, Petitioner, who is your _________ (relationship to respondent), or that is an agency or business that provides guardianship services, has asked a [court] judge for the power to make decisions for you. The judge has been asked to give this person, agency or business the authority to make the following decisions for you (mark the appropriate spaces):

___ Medical and health care decisions, including decisions on which doctors you will see and what medications and treatments you will receive.

___ Residential decisions, including decisions on whether you can stay where you are currently living or be moved to another place.

___ Financial decisions, including decisions on paying your bills and decisions about how your money is spent.

___ Other decisions: _______

______________________________.

YOUR MONEY MAY BE USED IF THE JUDGE APPOINTS A GUARDIAN FOR YOU. YOU MAY BE ASKED TO PAY FOR THE TIME AND EXPENSES OF THE GUARDIAN, THE TIME AND EXPENSES OF THE PETITIONER’S ATTORNEY, THE TIME AND EXPENSES OF YOUR ATTORNEY, FILING FEES AND OTHER COSTS.

YOU MUST TELL SOMEONE AT THE COURTHOUSE BEFORE _________ (DATE) IF YOU OPPOSE HAVING SOMEONE ELSE MAKE THESE DECISIONS FOR YOU.

OBJECTIONS:

You can write to the judge if you do not want someone else making decisions for you. The judge’s address is: ______________.

You have the right to object to the appointment of a guardian by saying you want to continue to make your own decisions. If you do not want another person, agency or business making decisions for you, you can object. If you do not want ___________ (Proposed Guardian) to make these decisions for you, you can object. If you do not want your money to be used to pay for these expenses, you can object.

You can object any time after the judge has appointed a guardian. You can ask the judge at any time to limit the kinds of decisions that the guardian makes for you so that you can make more decisions for yourself. You can also ask the judge at any time to end the guardianship.

THE HEARING:

The judge will hold a hearing if you do not want a guardian, do not want this particular person to act as your guardian or do not want your money used this way[, the judge will hold a hearing]. At the hearing, the judge will listen to what you and others have to say about whether you need someone else to make decisions for you, who that person should be and whether your money should be spent on these things. You can have your witnesses tell the judge why you do not need a guardian and you can bring in records and other information about why you think that you do not need a guardian. You can ask your witnesses questions and other witnesses questions.

[YOU MUST TELL SOMEONE BEFORE ______________ (DATE) IF YOU OPPOSE HAVING SOMEONE ELSE MAKE THESE DECISIONS FOR YOU.]

THE COURT VISITOR:

The judge will appoint someone to investigate whether you need a guardian to make decisions for you. This person is called a “visitor.” The visitor works for the judge and does not work for the person who filed the petition asking the judge to appoint a guardian for you, for you or for any other party. The visitor will come and talk to you about the guardianship process, about whether you think that you need a guardian and about who you would want to be your guardian if the judge decides that you need a guardian. The visitor will talk to other people who have information about whether you need a guardian. The visitor will make a report to the judge about whether what the petition says is true, whether the visitor thinks that you need a guardian, whether the person proposed as your guardian is able and willing to be your guardian, who would be the best guardian for you and what decisions the guardian should make for you. If there is a hearing about whether to appoint a guardian for you, the visitor will be in court to testify.

You can tell the visitor if you don’t want someone else making decisions for you when the visitor comes to talk with you about this matter.

[You can write to the judge if you don’t want someone else making decisions for you. The judge’s address is: _______________________

_________________________________.]

LEGAL SERVICES:

You can call a lawyer if you don’t want someone else making decisions for you. If you don’t have a lawyer, you can ask the judge whether [an attorney] a lawyer can be appointed for you [or you can call this number __________ and ask to talk to a lawyer about this].

There may be free or low-cost legal services or other relevant services in your local area that may be helpful to you in the guardianship proceeding. For information about these services, you can call the following telephone numbers __________ and ask to talk to people who can help you find legal services or other types of services.

OBJECTION FORM:

You can mark the blue sheet (Respondent’s Objection) that is attached to this form if you do not want someone else to make your decisions for you. You can give the blue sheet to the visitor when the visitor comes to talk with you about this, you can show it to your attorney or you can mail it to the judge.

______________________________________________________________________________

(4) In addition to the requirements of subsection (1) of this section, a notice of a petition that is served on a respondent who is alleged to be incapacitated must contain an objection form, printed on blue paper in 14-point type, in substantially the following form:

______________________________________________________________________________

IN THE _____ COURT

OF THE STATE OF OREGON

FOR THE COUNTY OF _____

) Case No. ___

(Case Title) )

) RESPONDENT’S

) OBJECTION

)

I object to the petition for the following reasons:

___ I do not want anyone else making any of my decisions for me.

___ I do not want ___________ making any decisions for me.

___ I do not want ___________ to make the following decisions for me:

__________________________________________

____________________________

(Signature of Respondent)

____________________________

(Date)

GIVE TO THE VISITOR OR MAIL TO:

____________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

(5) In addition to the requirements of subsection (1) of this section, a notice of a petition provided to a person other than the respondent must contain a statement as follows:

______________________________________________________________________________

NOTICE: If you wish to receive copies of future filings in this case, you must inform the [court] judge and the person named as petitioner in this notice. You must inform the [court] judge by filing a request for notice and paying any applicable fee. The request for notice must be in writing, must clearly indicate that you wish to receive future filings in the proceedings and must contain your name, address and phone number. You must notify the person named as petitioner by mailing a copy of the request to the petitioner. Unless you take these steps, you will receive no further copies of the filings in the case.

______________________________________________________________________________

SECTION 2. The amendments to ORS 125.070 by section 1 of this 2001 Act apply only to petitions and motions in protective proceedings filed on or after the effective date of this 2001 Act.

Approved by the Governor June 18, 2001

Filed in the office of Secretary of State June 18, 2001

Effective date January 1, 2002

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