Substitute Senate Bill No. 247 - Summary

• Expands eligibility for Kinship Fund and Grandparents and Relatives Respite Fund grants to any individual appointed as a guardian (not just grandparents/relatives) who is not receiving subsidized guardianship or foster care payments.

• Establishes probate court filing fees effective January 1, 2019, with a base fee of $225 for most motions, petitions, and applications, and varying fees of $150-$350 for specific filings including custody, mediation, and continuance requests.

• Adds new fee of $150 for filing affidavits concerning possessions and personal effects of deceased occupants and modifies interest accrual rules for decedent estate fees, exempting interest on portions based on damages from fatal injuries.

• Changes terminology throughout probate statutes from "application" to "petition" and "court of probate" to "Probate Court" for consistency, and eliminates references to obsolete fiduciary positions including "trustee in insolvency" and "persons appointed to sell the land of minors."

• Modifies guardianship procedures by reducing the advance filing period for involuntary representation of minors from 180 days to 145 days, establishing permanent guardianship provisions, and enabling transfer of guardianship cases between probate courts when in the minor's best interest.