Adult guardianship law in North Carolina underwent several significant changes effective January 1, 2024. My colleague, Timothy Heinle, and I previously blogged about two of these changes resulting from Session Law 2023-124, available here (notice of rights) and here (less restrictive alternatives). One change that may have slipped under your radar is found in G.S. 35A-1242(e) and imposes a new obligation on guardians to file a notice of change of address with the court.
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Tag: Clerk of Superior Court
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More Changes to the Year’s Allowance in Decedents’ Estates: The Procedure to Claim and Assign the Allowance
*Update, March 1, 2024: The N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts published revised year’s allowance forms in connection with the changes enacted by Session Law 2023-120. They are AOC-E-100, Petition and Assignment Year’s Allowance and AOC-E-101, Deficiency Judgment. Both the revised and previous version of the forms are available on the AOC’s website. The revised forms should be used for the estates of decedents dying on or after March 1, 2024. The previous version of the forms should be used for the estates of decedents dying on or before February 29, 2024.
This is the third and final post in a series that focuses on changes to the year’s allowance in decedents’ estates resulting from Session Law 2023-120. This post discusses the process to apply for the spousal and child’s allowance. The statutory changes are effective for decedents dying on or after March 1, 2024. You can access my two previous posts in this series here and here. Continue Reading
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Changes to the Spousal and Child’s Year’s Allowance in Decedents’ Estates: The Time Period to Apply for the Allowance and the Priority Among the Allowances
On March 1, 2024, several significant changes will take effect that apply to the spousal and child’s allowance in decedents’ estates. This post is the first in a series of posts that will focus on the changes to the allowance enacted by Session Law 2023-120.
What Is a Year’s Allowance?
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Change is Coming: The Consideration of Less Restrictive Alternatives in Adult Guardianship Proceedings Mandated by S.L. 2023-124
Significant changes are on the way for individuals, legal practitioners, and public officials involved in North Carolina incompetency and adult guardianship proceedings. The recently enacted Session Law 2023-124 mandates the consideration of less restrictive alternatives (LRAs) to guardianship prior to an adjudication of incompetency. There is a lot to cover on this topic; more than can fit in a single blog post. As a result, this post will focus on (i) introducing the statutory changes brought about by this new law and (ii) highlighting some key things the parties and the court will need to do differently with respect to petitions filed on or after January 1, 2024. S.L. 2023-124, sec. 7.13.
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S.L. 2023-124: Changes to Guardianship Statutes, Notice of Rights, and Details on Upcoming SOG Resources
On September 20, 2023, Senate Bill 615 became Session Law 2023-124, enacting a significant number of changes to North Carolina’s existing incompetency and guardianship laws. The changes modified the definitions in G.S. Chapter 35A of key terms, added a requirement of all parties and the court to consider less restrictive alternatives to guardianship, created a new notice of rights (and with it, new obligations for guardian ad litem attorneys (GALs) and others), changed the standards applicable to the assessment of costs and fees, and more. This post will explore one of these changes, the new notice of rights requirement, and will consider the practical implications for GALS. At the end of this post, you will find information about upcoming School of Government blog posts and webinars on the legislative changes resulting from S.L. 2023-124.
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Apply Now for the Upcoming Adult Protection Multidisciplinary Team Workshop
Someone once told me that to get people really interested in a meeting you need to either make it free to attend or provide food. Well, thanks to funding from the North Carolina Judicial College, we are doing both for an upcoming workshop at the School of Government. It will be held March 2-3, 2023, and will bring together diverse stakeholders from around North Carolina to begin the process of forming and developing adult protection multidisciplinary teams (MDTs). Each team may send up to seven people to participate in the workshop. The application period is now open and runs through January 13, 2023. You can learn details about the workshop and apply here.
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Ongoing Support for Adult Protection Multidisciplinary Teams Now Available Through the School of Government Help Desk
Over the past few years, faculty and staff at the School of Government collaborated with public officials across the state to develop resources and tools related to the growth and development of adult protection multidisciplinary teams (MDTs). An adult protection MDT is a group of professionals in a geographic region who work together toward common goals related to preventing and responding to abuse, in any of its forms (physical, emotional, and sexual abuse; self-neglect and caretaker neglect; and exploitation, including financial exploitation).
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A New Foreclosure Resource Available for Clerks of Superior Court
A power of sale foreclosure under North Carolina General Statutes Chapter 45 is intended to provide an efficient and expeditious alternative to a judicial foreclosure. In re Adams, 204 N.C. App. 318, 321 (2010). The authority of a lender to elect a power of sale foreclosure (sometimes referred to as a “non-judicial foreclosure”) typically arises based on an agreement between the borrower and the lender when a mortgage loan is made and is frequently evidenced by the power of sale provision in the deed of trust. Whereas a judicial foreclosure requires the filing of a civil action in district or superior court, a power of sale foreclosure is filed before the clerk of superior court. G.S. 45-21.16(a). A trustee, who is a fiduciary and a neutral party, files a notice of hearing to initiate the proceeding. G.S. 45-21.16(a), (c)(7)b. If after a hearing the clerk finds the existence of six factors, then the clerk enters an order authorizing the foreclosure sale. G.S. 45-21.16(d). The act of the clerk in finding or refusing to find the existence of the six factors is a judicial act. G.S. 45-21.16(d1).
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Adult Protection MDTs: New Project Underway (and Help Needed!)
Over the last several years, the School of Government has developed new and exciting resources to support local multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) involved with protecting adults from abuse, neglect, and exploitation. An MDT is a group of professionals in a geographic region who commit to working together toward a common goal. An adult protection MDT may include, for example, social workers, law enforcement officials, prosecutors, legal services attorneys, guardians or guardians ad litem, representatives from community nonprofits, financial institutions, and area agencies on aging.
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More on Single Protective Arrangements and Single Transactions under G.S. Chapter 35A
Recently, the School of Government offered a webinar on single protective arrangements and single transactions under G.S. 35A-1121, which was enacted into law by Session Law 2021-53 and applies to proceedings initiated on or after October 1, 2021. Meredith Smith and Timothy Heinle of the School of Government joined Catherine Wilson, an attorney with McPherson, Rocamora, Nicholson, Wilson & Hinkle, PLLC, and Matt Kraus, legal counsel with the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts, to discuss some of the key questions and issues raised by this new law. Clerks of superior court, guardian ad litem attorneys, private attorneys, and directors, attorneys, and social workers from various departments of social services across the state participated in the webinar.
A recording of the webinar can be found here, where the presentation can be viewed for free. In the coming weeks, the video will be added to the online training library for the SOG’s Public Defense Education group, which will offer the option of purchasing access to the webinar for CLE credit.