WEST CHESTER >> Those who serve as legal guardians for
incapacitated persons and their estates will soon have to adapt to a new
way of filing annual reports on the physical and financial conditions
of the people they are charged with looking after.
According to Terri Clark, the Chester County Register of Wills and
Clerk of Orphans Court, beginning Aug. 29, guardians will have to submit
those mandated reports through an internet-based system with the
Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts. Previously, those reports
could be mailed or brought into a county’s Orphans Court office for
inspection.
And while many of those who look after the well-being
and financial resources of incapacitated adults come from professional
agencies, Clark said the county does have a significant percentage of
family members or close friends who are court-appointed attorneys. She
worries that the people may not have the knowledge or resources to keep
up with the new regulations.
So
Clark said that beginning this month, her office in the county Justice
Center will offer free access to computers with which the legal
guardians can file the necessary reports. She said the staff at the
Register of Wills Office will also be trained to help those filing.
“I
want to get this out,” Clark said in an interview Monday in her office
overlooking West Market Street. “I think the new system is going to take
some getting used to, so my staff will be trained to help anyone who
would like to come in and file their reports.”
Clark estimated that there are about 700 non-professional guardians
looking after those who have been found in need of care and oversight by
one of the county’s three Orphans Court judges.
Those guardians
are required to file every year reports that include a daily, weekly, or
monthly account of the steps they have taken to insure the well-being
of those they are looking after. How many times did they go to the
doctor? Did they do the grocery shopping? What other activities did they
engage in?
Guardians who are responsible for the person’s estate —
their bank account, stock holdings, real estate, etc. — must also file a
report detailing what has been happening with those finances.
The new rules, known collectively as the Guardian Tracking System,
were put in place this year by a statewide task force looking into elder
abuse. Commonwealth Court Judge Paula Francisco Ott, formerly a county
Orphans Court judge, was involved in the effort, Clark said.
The
system is intended to help cut down on some elder abuse by making it
more difficult for a guardian who has been removed from one case to
relocate to another jurisdiction and continue their guardianship, she
said. It will also track how well a professional guardian is performing,
so a judge can decide whether an agency should continue to be appointed
to care for a vulnerable person. The system will also make sure that
guardians are filing mandated annual reports.
“This process is
going to make it harder for elder abuse to happen,” she said. “But
change is difficult for everyone, and we’re here to make their job
easier.”
The tracking system is available at https://ujsportal.pacourts.us/Guardianship.aspx. For more information contact the county Orphans Court at https://www.chesco.org/168/Register-of-Wills-Orphans-Court.
Full Article & Source:
Legal guardian system set to change
I hope and pray the change isn't all about the way the filings are submitted to the court and that the filings are actually going to be read and audited.
ReplyDeletecharlie ??audit ? what's that ? the demand is to file.They only harass those that voice and file complaints about this illegal and unconstitutional system that preys on the elderly and disabled.
ReplyDeletewe have no crimes,reports to APS etc, or even disputes with the SSA,so where do they come in ?
LOL via their bs statutes and codes.