Arizona: SB1499 vs. HB2424

State lawmakers are weighing competing proposals that would reform Arizona's Probate Courts, and at least one stark choice confronts them: whether to create ongoing oversight of judges by the Legislature.

Both bills promise to change the way Probate Courts conduct business and rein in sometimes enormous fees charged by lawyers and private fiduciaries appointed to manage the care and finances of incapacitated adults.

Senate Bill 1499, supported by judges, fiduciaries and their lawyers, would impose new rules that would require fiduciaries to submit budgets, create fee guidelines, and require that services and costs benefit vulnerable adults under the court's protection.

It would leave all oversight of probate with the Arizona Supreme Court and individual judges. Judges have been criticized in recent years for allowing costs in cases to spiral out of control.

House Bill 2424, championed by a group of activists who say they were victimized by the system, would impose sharper mandates, including establishing limits on legal and fiduciary fees, requiring fiduciaries to provide a monthly accounting and subjecting judges to civil penalties for failing to protect a ward's rights.

It would create a legislative-review panel that takes citizen complaints and makes an annual report to the governor and other state officials. The panel would not have power to enact changes except to set minimum training standards for probate judges.

Some judges and lawyers worry the approach would politicize the judicial process. They also contend the bill was written partly to help heirs of Walt Disney who are embroiled in a bitter Probate Court battle.

Among supporters of the Senate bill are Supreme Court Chief Justice Rebecca White Berch and Maricopa County presiding Judge Norman Davis.

Supporters of the competing House bill, which is sponsored by Rep. David Burnell Smith, D-Carefree, say it is the one that achieves real reform.

"Our bill works from the bottom up. Theirs is top down . . . and would keep total control in the court," said Laura Knaperek, a former state representative and co-author of the bill. "Our bill helps real people, and it fixes the problems in the court."

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Competing Arizona Bills Target Probate Court