The 2020 legislative session ended on March 12, a few days later than scheduled. Because many bills were passed at the very end of the session, the Governor had 30 days to act on most things. He could veto, sign or amend legislation.
Although there were many pieces of guardianship proposals that did not survive the session, the Governor did sign all of the guardianship bills that were passed. The new laws take effect on July 1, 2020.
We look forward to proposals in the 2021 session dealing with Supported Decision Making, Visitation Rights, and reporting responsibilities for guardians.
This is our final report for the 2020 session on legislation concerning guardianship in Virginia:
SB 585 (Dunnavant) was signed by the Governor on April 7, 2020. The new law strengthens requirements that courts must consider less restrictive alternatives before imposing a guardianship and that guardians must encourage the person to participate in their own decision making. The new law also requires a guardian ad litem to review the IEP for a 17-21 year old when available. The new law charges the Department of Behavioral Health with convening a work group to study Supported Decision Making.
SB 1072 (Mason) was signed by the Governor on April 2, 2020. The new law prohibits a court from appointing a lawyer or firm as guardian if that firm also represents the petitioner seeking guardianship or in any other matter, unless a Court determines there is good cause to do so. The new law will remedy a particularly abusive practice of several hospital systems that used the guardianship process to place patients in nursing homes against their will.
SB 214 (Sutterlien) was signed by the Governor on March 31, 2020. The new law requires a guardian ad litem to review an IEP when the person in the guardianship proceeding is between 17 and 21.
SB 361 (Chafin) was approved on March 6th and HB 1166 (Wampler) was approved by the Governor on March 18, 2020. The bills were identical. The new law makes it a civil perjury offense for a guardian or conservator to file a knowingly false statement with the court, subject to a fine of not more than $500. This is a significantly less punitive penalty that was originally proposed by legislators, but is more than what exists in current law.
The mission of the disAbility Law Center of Virginia is to advance independence, choice and self-determination; protect legal, human and civil rights; and eliminate abuse, neglect and discrimination of people with disabilities through zealous and uncompromising legal advocacy and representation. With respect to guardianship issues, we promote options and tools that increase an individual’s ability to retain choices and decisions about their own lives to the fullest extent possible.