OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 488 Bill Analysis
134th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 488’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Reported by House Civil Justice
Primary Sponsors: Reps. Grendell and Galonski
Effective Date:
Aida S. Montano, Research Analyst
SUMMARY
GUARDIANSHIP LAW CHANGES
Definitions
Expands the terms defined in the Guardianship Law to include “limited guardian,”
“standby guardian,” “interim guardian,” “emergency guardian,” and “successor
guardian.”
Modifies the definitions of “ward,” “incompetent,” “parent,” and “financial harm.”
Guardianship of a minor
Expands the contents of an application for guardianship of a minor to include:
An affidavit with information on the child’s address, places where the child lived in
the past five years, and the name and address of each person with whom the child
lived in those years;
Name and contact information of any person nominated in a writing or a durable
power of attorney for health care as guardian of the nominator’s person, estate, or
both.
Removes from the contents of an application for guardianship of a minor the name and
address of the person having custody of the minor.
Modifies current law by providing that a minor over the age of 12 years, instead of over
the age of 14 years, may select a guardian who must be appointed if a suitable person.
Eliminates current law’s provision that when a testamentary guardian is appointed, that
guardian’s duties, powers, and liabilities in all other respects must be governed by the
law regulating guardians not appointed by the will.
April 8, 2022
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
Specifies that the married parents are the joint natural guardians of their minor
children, and eliminates provisions specifying parental rights and responsibilities with
respect to their children.
Guardianship of an incompetent; conservatorship
Expands the contents of an application for guardianship of an incompetent to include:
□ The proposed ward’s military service, if applicable;
□ The name and contact information of any person nominated in a durable power of
attorney for health care or in a writing as guardian of the person, estate, or both, of
the person;
□ A statement of expert evaluation under Superintendence Rule 66 by any of the
specified professionals, or other qualified person as determined by the court, who
has examined the proposed ward within three months prior to the date of that
statement as to the need for establishing the guardianship.
Provides that upon application to the court and for good cause shown, the court may
order an appropriate emergency medical technician or law enforcement personnel to
transport the proposed ward for expert evaluation.
Modifies current law by providing that generally, the guardian of an incompetent must
be the guardian of the minor children of the ward, upon the filing of a separate
application under a new case number unless the court appoints some other person as
their guardian.
Requires the clerk of the probate court to furnish the guardianship guide specifically to a
guardian of an incompetent.
Expands current law by providing that a guardian’s report must include a statement by
any of other specified professionals, in addition to those in current law, or other
qualified person who has evaluated the ward within three months prior to the date of
the report as to the need for continuing the guardianship.
Specifies the times when the probate court, upon written request by the ward, the
ward’s attorney, or any interested party, must conduct a hearing to evaluate the
continued necessity of the guardianship of an incompetent.
Requires that if the ward alleges competence, the burden of proving incompetence
must be upon the guardian by clear and convincing evidence.
Provides that the statement of expert evaluation filed with the application or the most
recent statement of evaluation filed with the guardian’s report, or both statements,
may satisfy that burden of proving incompetence unless contradicted by medical
evidence or a statement of any of the specified professionals, submitted by the ward.
Eliminates the requirement that a competent adult must be physically infirm in order to
petition the probate court to place the petitioner’s person, any or all of the petitioner’s
property, or both, under a conservatorship.
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Notice of hearing on application for guardianship in general
Retains current provisions regarding the persons who must receive notice of the hearing
except that in the appointment of the guardian of a minor, notice must be served by
personal service upon the minor, if over the age of 12, instead of over the age of
14 under current law.
Provides that for good cause shown, the requirement of notice to certain persons under
continuing law may be waived except for the notice to the proposed ward.
Extension of interim guardian’s appointment
Provides that an interim guardian’s appointment may be extended for up to two
subsequent 30-day periods, instead of an additional 30 days under current law, after the
initial extension of 15 days.
Appointment of successor guardian
Requires the court to provide notice of a vacancy of the guardianship to the ward and
nearest next of kin.
Authorizes the appointment of a successor guardian upon application by an interested
party after notice to the ward or by the court if found necessary to determine the
suitability of applicants or it would otherwise be in the ward’s best interest.
Authorizes the court to appoint a successor guardian sua sponte and without a hearing
or notice to the ward if the interested party has not so applied within a certain period,
and requires the court to give notice to the ward after the appointment.
Guardianship of wards in general
Specifies that a guardian of the person of a ward must oversee the physical placement,
maintenance, and care of the ward.
Requires the guardian of the person of a minor to have the “legal custody” of the minor.
Defines “legal custody” as a legal status that vests in the custodian the right to have the
minor’s physical care and control, determine where and with whom the minor will live,
protect and discipline the minor, and provide the minor with food, shelter, education,
and medical care, all subject to any residual parental rights and responsibilities.
Repeals current law generally requiring a guardian of the person and estate of a minor
to have the custody of the ward and to provide for the education of the ward and the
management of the ward’s estate during minority.
Expands the duties of a guardian of a minor to include the duty to identify both family
and nonfamily members with whom the ward desires to communicate and facilitate the
contact that the guardian believes is in the best interest of the ward.
Repeals outright current law providing that when a person is appointed to have the
custody of the person and to take charge of the estate of a ward, such person must have
all the duties required of a guardian of the estate and of a guardian of the person.
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Modifies current law by prohibiting any attorney who represents a guardian from acting
with co-responsibility for any guardianship asset for which the guardian is responsible,
or from being a cosignatory on any financial account related to the guardianship.
Provides that upon application by a guardian of the person of the ward, the court may
authorize the settlement of the ward’s claim for injury to the ward or damage to the
ward’s property without the appointment of a guardian of the estate of the ward, and
authorize the delivery of the moneys as provided in applicable law.
Outright repeals the current provision that the marriage of a ward must terminate the
guardianship as to the person, but not as to the estate, of the ward.
Transactions dealing with ward’s property
Specifies that an appointed successor guardian may complete any authorized contract
relating to the ward’s real property entered into by a guardian who has died or been
removed.
Modifies current law by providing that the guardian of the person and estate, or of the
estate only, may sell all or any part of the ward’s personal property if the sale is for the
best interest of the ward, with prior court approval.
Requires a guardian to file in the probate court a motion, instead of a petition under
current law, to use the ward’s moneys and personal property to improve the ward’s real
property.
Eliminates the following from the contents of the motion (replacing petition under
current law) as described in the preceding dot point:
□ A prayer that the guardian be authorized to use so much of the ward’s money and
personal property that is necessary to make the improvement;
□ The character of the ward’s disability, and if it is incompetency, whether the
disability is curable or not, temporary, or confirmed, and its duration;
□ The names, ages, and residences of the ward’s family, including the spouse and
residents of the county who have the next estate of inheritance from the ward, all of
whom, as well as the ward, must be made defendants and notified of the pendency
and prayer of the petition in the manner that the court directs.
Outright repeals the following provisions in current law dealing with the improvement
of the ward’s property:
□ The probate court must appoint three disinterested freeholders of the county as
commissioners to examine the premises to be improved and its surroundings, and to
report to the court their opinion whether the improvement proposed will be
advantageous to the estate of the ward.
□ If the prayer is granted, the probate court must fix the amount of money and
personal property that may be used in making the improvement, and may authorize
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the guardian to unite with adjacent property owners, for the improvement and
management of the ward’s premises.
□ A guardian must report to the probate court the amount of money and personal
property expended in making an improvement to the ward’s real property within 40
days after its completion.
□ If the ward dies before the removal of the disability and there are heirs who inherit
real property only from the ward, the money expended must descend and pass in
the same manner as the ward’s other personal property and must be a charge on
the premises improved in favor of the heirs.
Termination of guardianship based on value of ward’s estate
Upon a court order to terminate the guardianship of a ward whose estate does not
exceed $25,000 in value, eliminates the court’s authority to authorize delivery of the
assets to the minor’s natural guardian, to the person by whom the minor is maintained,
to the executive director of children services in the county, or to the minor’s own self.
Requires a receipt verifying the deposit of guardianship assets in an authorized
depository be submitted to the court and that release of any funds held in a depository
for the benefit of the minor be by court order.
Provides that in the alternative to the preceding dot point and for good cause shown,
the court may direct the guardian to deliver the assets to a suitable person, and such
person must hold the assets and dispose of them in the manner the court directs.
Upon a court order to terminate the guardianship of an incompetent, requires a receipt
verifying the deposit of guardianship assets in an authorized depository be submitted to
the court and that release of any funds held in a depository for the benefit of the
incompetent be by court order.
Modifies current law by providing that if the estate of a person 18 years old or older
who has been adjudged incompetent, does not exceed $25,000, the court, without the
appointment of a guardian or, if a guardian is appointed without the giving of bond, may
authorize the deposit of estate assets in an authorized depository.
In the event of the preceding dot point, requires a receipt verifying the deposit of assets
be submitted to the court and that release of any funds held in a depository for the
benefit of the incompetent be by court order.
Guardian for nonresident
Eliminates the application of current law authorizing the probate court of the county in
which a person confined in a state, charitable, or correctional institution has property to
appoint a resident guardian to manage the property, and retains the application of the
law to the appointment of a resident guardian for a nonresident minor or incompetent.
Generally requires a resident guardian of a nonresident minor to hold the appointment
until the minor dies or arrives at the age of majority, whether or not the minor was over
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14 years old at the time of appointment prior to the bill’s effective date or whether or
not the minor is over 12 years old at the time of appointment on or after that date.
Changes terminology from nonresident wards to nonresident minors or incompetents.
Other provisions in R.C. Chapter 2111
Modifies current law by providing that the probate court may enter an order that
authorizes a person under a duty to pay money or personal property to a minor who
does not have a guardian, to perform that duty in amounts not exceeding $25,000,
instead of not exceeding $5,000 annually.
Expands the persons or entities to which the money or property under the preceding
dot point is to be delivered to include a trust for the benefit of the minor.
If the money under the second preceding dot point is to be paid to a financial
institution, requires that a receipt verifying the deposit be submitted to the court and
that release of funds held in a depository for the benefit of the minor be upon court
order, including release of funds to the minor upon attaining the age of majority.
Modifies current law by providing that a probate court may issue an emergency ex parte
order freezing the financial assets of an individual whom the court or applicant has
reason to believe is missing or has gone or been taken away if immediate action is
required to prevent significant financial harm to the individual.
COURT OF COMMON PLEAS’ EMPLOYMENT
OF LEGAL COUNSEL
Court authority to employ legal counsel
Authorizes the court of common pleas, a division of the court, or the county court to
employ legal counsel to do any of the following:
Represent the court or division in any matter in which the prosecuting attorney, the
board of county commissioners, or both, have a conflict of interest, and fail within a
reasonable time, or refuse, to make an application to the court for the employment
of legal counsel despite having been requested to do so;
Represent the court or division in the prosecution of any action or proceeding
a