The bill, now Act 61 of 2023, makes changes to the process of assigning guardians to people who are considered incapacitated, whether due to age-related illnesses, mental health issues, or cognitive disabilities. Those guardians can be family members but are often professionals in the private sector who do such work for a living.
Families who have experienced the system have long complained it is rife with pitfalls: trapping people in guardianship for years, if not a lifetime, with little chance of escape. Spotlight PA last spring highlighted the story of one woman who alleges in a long-running civil case now before a top Pennsylvania court that her late mother’s guardianship (including her legal representation) was rife with conflicts of interest.
And some advocates believe that even the new law won’t solve the many problems associated with guardianship.
The new law, championed by state Sens. Lisa Baker (R., Luzerne) and Art Haywood (D., Montgomery) and signed by Shapiro in mid-December, is at its core an effort to make guardianship a choice of last resort. It requires judges and others involved in the process to first consider less restrictive alternatives, even when individuals are found to be incapacitated or unable to make many decisions for themselves.
In short, the law states, “the court may not use a determination of incapacity alone to justify a guardianship.” If a judge does decide on guardianship of a person, anyone can file a petition with the court to end or modify the oversight. And if there is evidence that a person’s incapacitation is temporary, or that circumstances may change, the court has to schedule a review hearing within a year.
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New law aims to make guardianship a last resort in Pa., but some experts say it doesn’t go far enough
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