Senate Bill 1356 Summary

• Allows persons interested in a minor's welfare who is at least 17 years and 6 months old to petition for guardianship, with the appointment effective on the minor's eighteenth birthday.

• Requires courts to provide written information about guardianship alternatives before a petition is filed, including limited guardians, conservators, patient advocate designations, do-not-resuscitate declarations, and durable powers of attorney.

• Permits courts to schedule incapacity hearings for minors at least 17 years and 6 months old before their eighteenth birthday.

• Requires guardianship orders to specify limitations on guardian powers and any time limits on the guardianship, and mandates courts design guardianships to encourage maximum self-reliance and independence.

• Establishes that if an individual previously executed a patient advocate designation, the guardian cannot exercise the same medical or mental health treatment decision-making powers held by the patient advocate.