Sec. 45a-677. (Formerly Sec. 45-329). Powers and duties of plenary or limited guardian. Report. Transfer of file.
Sec. 45a-677. (Formerly Sec. 45-329). Powers and duties of plenary or limited
guardian. Report. Transfer of file. (a) The court may assign to a limited guardian of
a person with mental retardation any portion of the duties and powers listed in subsection
(d) of this section for those particular areas in which the respondent lacks the capacity
to meet the essential requirements for such respondent's physical or mental health or
safety.
(b) A limited guardian may also be assigned the duty to assist the respondent in
those particular areas in which the capacity of the respondent to meet the essential
requirements of such respondent's physical or mental health or safety, protect such
respondent's rights, obtain necessary services, or to fulfill such respondent's civil duties
is impaired, as well as in other ways not specifically prohibited by sections 45a-669 to
45a-684, inclusive.
(c) A limited guardian of a person with mental retardation shall have only such of
the duties and responsibilities and powers of a guardian of a person with mental retardation under subsection (d) of this section as the court shall specify based upon its findings
with regard to the individual need of the respondent for supervision. The guardian shall
have the duty to report to the probate court which appointed such limited guardian at
least annually the condition of the respondent. The preceding duties, responsibilities
and powers shall be carried out within the limitations of the resources available to the
ward, either through the ward's own estate or by reason of private or public assistance.
(d) The court may assign to a limited guardian the custody of the ward for the
purpose of exercising any, but not all, of the following limited duties and powers, in
order to assist the ward in achieving self-reliance: (1) To assure and consent to a place
of abode outside the natural family home, (2) to consent to specifically designed educational, vocational or behavioral programs, (3) to consent to the release of clinical records
and photographs, (4) to assure and consent to routine, elective and emergency medical
and dental care, and (5) other specific limited powers to assure and consent to services
necessary to develop or regain to the maximum extent possible the ward's capacity to
meet essential requirements. All plenary guardians and limited guardians appointed
pursuant to sections 45a-669 to 45a-684, inclusive, shall also have a duty to assure the
care and comfort of the ward within the limitations of their appointment, and within the
limitations of the resources available to the ward either through the ward's own estate
or by reason of private or public assistance.
(e) A plenary guardian or limited guardian of a person with mental retardation shall
not have the power or authority: (1) To cause the ward to be admitted to any institution
for treatment of the mentally ill, except in accordance with the provisions of sections
17a-75 to 17a-83, inclusive, 17a-456 to 17a-484, inclusive, 17a-495 to 17a-528, inclusive, 17a-540 to 17a-550, inclusive, 17a-560 to 17a-576, inclusive, 17a-615 to 17a-618,
inclusive, and 17a-621 to 17a-664, inclusive, and chapter 420b; (2) to cause the ward
to be admitted to any training school or other facility provided for the care and training
of persons with mental retardation if there is a conflict concerning such admission between the guardian and the person with mental retardation or next of kin, except in
accordance with the provisions of sections 17a-274 and 17a-275; (3) to consent on behalf
of the ward to a sterilization, except in accordance with the provisions of sections 45a-690 to 45a-700, inclusive; (4) to consent on behalf of the ward to psychosurgery, except
in accordance with the provisions of section 17a-543; (5) to consent on behalf of the
ward to the termination of the ward's parental rights, except in accordance with the
provisions of sections 45a-706 to 45a-709, inclusive, 45a-715 to 45a-718, inclusive,
45a-724 to 45a-737, inclusive, and 45a-743 to 45a-757, inclusive; (6) to consent on
behalf of the ward to the performance of any experimental biomedical or behavioral
medical procedure or participation in any biomedical or behavioral experiment, unless
it (A) is intended to preserve the life or prevent serious impairment of the physical health
of the ward, (B) is intended to assist the ward to regain the ward's abilities and has
been approved for the ward by the court, or (C) has been (i) approved by a recognized
institutional review board, as defined by 45 CFR 46, 21 CFR 50 and 21 CFR 56, as
amended from time to time, which is not a part of the Department of Developmental
Services, (ii) endorsed or supported by the Department of Developmental Services, and
(iii) approved for the ward by such ward's primary care physician; (7) to admit the
ward to any residential facility operated by an organization by whom such guardian is
employed, except in accordance with the provisions of section 17a-274; (8) to prohibit
the marriage or divorce of the ward; and (9) to consent on behalf of the ward to an
abortion or removal of a body organ, except in accordance with applicable statutory
procedures when necessary to preserve the life or prevent serious impairment of the
physical or mental health of the ward.
(f) A plenary guardian or limited guardian shall submit a report to the court: (1)
Annually; (2) when the court orders additional reports to be filed; (3) when there is a
significant change in the capacity of the ward to meet the essential requirements for the
ward's physical health or safety; (4) when the plenary guardian or limited guardian
resigns or is removed; and (5) when the guardianship is terminated.
(g) Such reports shall be submitted on a form provided by the Office of the Probate
Court Administrator and shall contain the following information: (1) Significant changes
in the capacity of the ward to meet the essential requirements for the ward's physical
health or safety; (2) the services being provided to the ward and the relationship of those
services to the individual guardianship plan; (3) the significant actions taken by the
limited guardian of a person with mental retardation or plenary guardian of a person
with mental retardation during the reporting period; (4) any significant problems relating
to the guardianship which have arisen during the reporting period; and (5) whether
such guardianship, in the opinion of the guardian, should continue, be modified, or be
terminated, and the reasons therefor.
(h) When any person with mental retardation for whom a guardian has been appointed becomes a resident of any town in the state in a probate district other than the
one in which a guardian was appointed, or becomes a resident of any town in the state
to which the guardianship file has been transferred under this section, such court in that
district may, upon motion of any person deemed by the court to have sufficient interest
in the welfare of the respondent, including, but not limited to, the guardian, the Commissioner of Developmental Services or the commissioner's designee, or a relative of the
person under guardianship, transfer the file to the probate district in which the person
under guardianship resides at the time of the application, provided the transfer is in
the best interest of the person with mental retardation. A transfer of the file shall be
accomplished by the probate court in which the guardianship matter is on file by making
copies of all documents in the court and certifying each of them and then causing them
to be delivered to the court for the district in which the person under guardianship resides.
When the transfer is made, the court of probate in which the person under guardianship
resides at the time of transfer shall thereupon assume jurisdiction over the guardianship
and all further accounts shall be filed with such court.
(i) A plenary guardian or limited guardian of a person with mental retardation and,
to the extent appropriate, such person shall be the primary decision maker with respect
to programs needed by such person and policies and practices affecting the well-being
of such person within the authority granted by the court pursuant to this section, provided
any such decision does not conflict with the requirements of section 17a-238. In making
any such decision, the plenary guardian or limited guardian shall consult with the ward
and appropriate members of the ward's family, where possible. A limited guardian shall
be the primary decision maker only with respect to such duties assigned to the limited
guardian by the court. The provisions of this subsection shall be included in any court
order appointing a plenary guardian or limited guardian of a person with mental retardation.
(P.A. 82-337, S. 10; P.A. 83-420, S. 2; P.A. 85-310, S. 2; P.A. 86-323, S. 7; P.A. 94-27, S. 14, 17; P.A. 98-250, S. 3,
39; P.A. 99-41, S. 1, 2; P.A. 01-140, S. 3; P.A. 02-58, S. 1; P.A. 03-51, S. 6; 03-278, S. 97; P.A. 04-257, S. 109; P.A. 07-73, S. 2(a), (b).)
History: P.A. 83-420 amended Subsec. (e)(1) by adding language re conflict between guardian and mentally retarded
person or next of kin concerning admission and added Subsec. (e)(6) re admission by employee of department of mental
retardation and right to notice and probate court review of persons voluntarily admitted by their guardians pursuant to Sec.
19a-455; P.A. 85-310 amended Subsec. (d) adding "or more limited powers as the court deems appropriate" and added
Subsec. (h) re transfer of file of mentally retarded person for whom a guardian has been appointed from one probate court
to another; P.A. 86-323 deleted provisions of Subsec. (d) re duties of guardian assigned by court and substituted provision
re powers of limited guardian assigned by court, deleted provisions of Subsec. (e) re power or authority that limited guardian
or guardian of the mentally retarded person shall not have, and substituted new provision re power or authority that
plenary or limited guardian of mentally retarded person shall not have, substituted "plenary" for "guardian" and "ward"
for "respondent", and in Subsec. (h), deleted "the court of probate in which the guardian was appointed shall" and substituted
"or becomes a resident of any town in the state to which the guardianship file has been transferred under this section, such
court in that district may" and permitted transfer of file on motion of guardian; Sec. 45-329 transferred to Sec. 45a-677 in
1991; P.A. 94-27 amended Subsec. (e) to delete reference to Secs. 17a-580 to 17a-603, inclusive, effective July 1, 1994;
P.A. 98-250 amended Subsec. (d) by replacing reference to placement in licensed and unlicensed facilities with reference
to placement "outside the natural family home", deleting "habilitative" and adding "vocational or behavioral" to programs,
deleting former Subdivs. (5) re consent to programs and (7) re consent to elective and emergency medical and dental care,
including anesthesia, and made technical changes, including renumbering Subdivs., effective July 1, 1998; P.A. 99-41
amended Subsec. (d)(4) by adding "elective and emergency" before "medical and dental care", effective May 27, 1999;
P.A. 01-140 made technical changes in Subsecs. (a) to (h) and added new Subsec. (i) re primary decision maker; P.A. 02-58 amended Subsec. (e)(6) by designating existing exceptions as Subparas. (A) and (B) and adding Subpara. (C) re exception
for procedure or experiment approved by recognized institutional review board, endorsed or supported by department and
approved by primary care physician; P.A. 03-51 substituted "person with mental retardation" for "mentally retarded person"; P.A. 03-278 made technical changes in Subsecs. (e) and (f), effective July 9, 2003; P.A. 04-257 made a technical
change in Subsec. (e)(2), effective June 14, 2004; (Revisor's note: In 2005, references in Subsecs. (b) and (d) to Sec. 45a-668 were changed editorially by the Revisors to Sec. 45a-669 to reflect the repeal of Sec. 45a-668 by P.A. 04-54); pursuant
to P.A. 07-73 "Commissioner of Mental Retardation" and "Department of Mental Retardation" were changed editorially
by the Revisors to "Commissioner of Developmental Services" and "Department of Developmental Services", effective
October 1, 2007.
Cited. 230 C. 828.
Subsec. (a):
Cited. 240 C. 766.
Subsec. (b):
Cited. 240 C. 766.
Subsec. (f):
Cited. 240 C. 766.
Subsec. (g):
Cited. 240 C. 766.