Guardianship Court Documentation and Record Keeping

I had the pleasure of speaking at the 1999 Guardian Association's Expo held at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club to discuss the above topic.

In preparing my presentation I contacted various representatives of the Pinellas County, Florida, judicial system for "off the record" comments concerning possible areas of improvement by professional guardians and their attorneys. They are:

1. Be Neat. Especially in preparing any documentation which will be filed with the court. Handwriting is acceptable in completing forms if your handwriting is legible. If your handwriting is not legible, you should type all forms on a typewriter or word processor.
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3. Pay Attention to Details. Draft pleadings so that they may stand on their own (i.e. include sufficient information for the court to take action without the need to locate and review the entire court file). Include the basics such as whether or not you are the plenary guardian or a limited guardian; if a limited guardian, have you been delegated the rights necessary for you to take the action requested in your petition; a specific description of the asset to which the pleading relates; the value of said asset and the method you have used to make said valuation; the amount of the current bond, etc.
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5. Do Not Leave Blanks on Forms. A blank on a report filed with the court indicates that the report is incomplete. Use "NA", "Not Applicable", "None", or "None Known" as appropriate. Try adding page numbers to report forms to keep them in proper order.
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7. Be Thorough. Do not assume - investigate everything. Don't rely on facts or information provided to you by "others" (such as nursing home employees, staff, neighbors, relatives, etc.) Acquire personal knowledge, so that when you advise the court you are accurate as to facts and details.
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9. File Pleadings on Time. (Or request an extension of time to file required pleadings before the pleadings are due to be filed with the court) If you have a good reason to request an extension of time, the court will be more than happy to grant reasonable extensions. Do not use the clerks orange notices as your "tickler" system. Numerous orange, or other colorful notices, in the court file do not reflect favorably on a guardian.
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11. Notice Everyone. A court order will only protect you from persons to whom prior notice of the petition requesting said order was sent by your attorney. Florida law F.S. §731.201 (21) defines an "interested person" as "any person who may reasonably be expected to be affected by the outcome of the particular proceeding involved." When in doubt, send them notice.
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13. Fee Petition Issues. Provide more detail in activity timelogs, and provide less detail in activity timelogs. You know which best applies to you. If something takes an unusually large amount of time to complete, explain why it took longer. The court is very familiar with what a "reasonable" amount of time is necessary to perform a task. If you can describe it, the court has seen a similar entry a hundred times over for the same task. Do not try to sneak something into your timelogs. Remember to include your prior fee statements with each fee petition. File fee petitions at least once each year - do not file for periods of 3, 4 or 5 years at a time!
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15. If you are not sure, ask! Do not be reluctant to contact your attorney, guardian, judge, or clerk to discuss how to handle certain issues. Many times a telephone call can save literally hours of unnecessary work.
    
    

If I had to summarize the best rule of thumb to follow concerning court documentation which was predominant among those persons with whom I spoke it would be "use your common sense."