HBA-KDB S.B. 1417 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisS.B. 1417 By: Lindsay Judicial Affairs 5/15/2001 Engrossed BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current law, a guardian or temporary guardian of an estate is entitled to be paid a fee of five percent of the gross income of the ward's estate and five percent of all money paid out of the estate. If a probate court (court) finds this amount to be unreasonably low, it can authorize reasonable compensation for the guardian, but there are no statutory guidelines to determine if that amount is unreasonably low or who is to determine a subsequent reasonable compensation. In addition, there is no provision that explicitly entitles a guardian to be reimbursed for the payment of attorney's fees incurred by the guardian for the management of the estate or any other guardianship matter. Senate Bill 1417 entitles the guardian or temporary guardian of an estate to reasonable compensation for management of the estate, authorizes the court to review and modify the amount of compensation if the court finds that the amount is unreasonably low, and specifies that a guardian is entitled to reasonable attorney's fees. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS Senate Bill 1417 amends the Texas Probate Code to entitle the guardian or temporary guardian of an estate to reasonable compensation on application to the probate court (court) at the time the court approves any annual accounting or final accounting filed by the guardian or temporary guardian. On application of an interested person or on its own motion, the court is authorized to review and modify the amount of such compensation if the court finds that the amount is reasonably low when considering the services rendered as guardian or temporary guardian. The bill prohibits a finding of unreasonably low compensation from being established solely because the amount of compensation is less than the usual and customary charges of the person or entity serving as guardian or temporary guardian. The bill specifies that a guardian is entitled to be reimbursed for the payment of reasonable attorney's fees necessarily incurred by the guardian in connection with the management of the estate or any other guardianship matter. The bill deletes the provision that a guardian's expense charges are required to be entered on a court's claim docket. The bill requires all of a guardian's expense charges to be paid only if the payment is authorized by court order, rather than acted on by the court in the same manner as other claims against the guardianship estate. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.