2018 Connecticut General Statutes
Title 45a - Probate Courts and Procedure
Chapter 802h - Protected Persons and Their Property
Section 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 any portion of the duties and powers listed in subsection (d) of this section for those particular areas in which the protected person lacks the capacity to meet the essential requirements for the protected person’s physical or mental health or safety.

(b) A limited guardian may also be assigned the duty to assist the protected person in those particular areas in which the capacity of the protected person to meet the essential requirements of such protected person’s physical or mental health or safety, protect such protected person’s rights, obtain necessary services, or to fulfill such protected person’s civil duties is impaired, as well as in other ways not specifically prohibited by sections 45a-669 to 45a-683, inclusive.

(c) A limited guardian shall have only such of the duties and responsibilities and powers of a guardian under subsection (d) of this section as the court shall specify based upon its findings with regard to the individual need of the protected person for supervision. The guardian shall have the duty to report to the Probate Court that appointed such limited guardian at least annually the condition of the protected person. The preceding duties, responsibilities and powers shall be carried out within the limitations of the resources available to the protected person, either through the protected person’s own estate or by reason of private or public assistance.

(d) The court may assign to a limited guardian the custody of the protected person for the purpose of exercising any, but not all, of the following limited duties and powers, in order to assist the protected person 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 protected person’s capacity to meet essential requirements. All plenary guardians and limited guardians appointed pursuant to sections 45a-669 to 45a-683, inclusive, shall also have a duty to assure the care and comfort of the protected person within the limitations of their appointment, and within the limitations of the resources available to the protected person either through the protected person’s own estate or by reason of private or public assistance.

(e) A plenary guardian or limited guardian shall not have the power or authority: (1) To cause the protected person 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 protected person to be admitted to any training school or other facility provided for the care and training of persons with intellectual disability if there is a conflict concerning such admission between the guardian and the protected person or next of kin, except in accordance with the provisions of sections 17a-274 and 17a-275; (3) to consent on behalf of the protected person to a sterilization, except in accordance with the provisions of sections 45a-690 to 45a-700, inclusive; (4) to consent on behalf of the protected person to psychosurgery, except in accordance with the provisions of section 17a-543; (5) to consent on behalf of the protected person to the termination of the protected person’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 protected person 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 protected person, (B) is intended to assist the protected person to regain the protected person’s abilities and has been approved for the protected person 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 protected person by such protected person’s primary care physician; (7) to admit the protected person 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 protected person; and (9) to consent on behalf of the protected person 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 protected person.

(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 protected person to meet the essential requirements for the protected person’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 protected person to meet the essential requirements for the protected person’s physical health or safety; (2) the services being provided to the protected person and the relationship of those services to the individual guardianship plan; (3) the significant actions taken by the limited guardian or plenary guardian 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 protected person becomes a resident of any probate district in this state other than the one in which a guardian was appointed, or becomes a resident of any probate district in this state other than the one to which the guardianship file has been transferred under this section, the court in which the guardianship matter is on file may, upon motion of any person deemed by the court to have sufficient interest in the welfare of the protected person, including, but not limited to, the guardian, the Commissioner of Developmental Services or the commissioner’s designee, or a relative of the protected person, transfer the file to the probate district in which the protected person resides at the time of the motion, provided the transfer is in the protected person’s best interest. Upon issuance of an order to transfer a file under this section, the transferring court shall transmit a digital image of each document in the court file to the transferee court using the document management system maintained by the Office of the Probate Court Administrator. The transferee court shall thereupon assume jurisdiction over the guardianship.

(i) A plenary guardian or limited guardian and, to the extent appropriate, the protected person shall be the primary decision maker with respect to programs needed by the protected person and policies and practices affecting the well-being of the protected 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 protected person and appropriate members of the protected person’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.

(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); P.A. 11-129, S. 20; P.A. 16-49, S. 8; P.A. 17-136, S. 14.)

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; pursuant to P.A. 11-129, “mental retardation” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “intellectual disability”; P.A. 16-49 replaced references to respondent and ward with references to protected person, deleted references to person with intellectual disability, deleted references to Sec. 45a-684 in Subsec. (b) and (d), replaced reference to town in the state with reference to probate district in the state and replaced “application” with “motion” re transfer of file to probate district where person resides in Subsec. (h), and made technical and conforming changes; P.A. 17-136 amended Subsec. (h) to replace provision re copying and delivery of documents with provision re transferring court to transmit digital image of each document in court file to transferee court using document management system maintained by Office of the Probate Court Administrator, and made technical changes, effective January 1, 2018.