I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4545 
To protect the rights of legally incompetent adults who are the subject 
of a legal guardianship or conservatorship. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 20, 2021 
Mr. CRIST (for himself and Ms. MACE) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To protect the rights of legally incompetent adults who are 
the subject of a legal guardianship or conservatorship. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Freedom and Right 
to Emancipate from Exploitation (FREE) Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. GRANTS TO STATES FOR STATE-EMPLOYED CASE-
WORKERS AND LEGAL GUARDIANS AND CON-
SERVATORS FOR LEGALLY INCOMPETENT 
ADULTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make grants 
to eligible States, in accordance with this section, for the 
provision of State-employed caseworkers, legal guardians, 
and conservators for legally incompetent adults. 
(b) ELIGIBILITY.—A State is eligible for a grant 
under this section if the Secretary determines that— 
(1) the State maintains an up-to-date database 
of all legal guardianships and conservatorships that 
have been established for legally incompetent adults 
under State law; 
(2) State law requires a caseworker who is a 
State employee to be appointed for each individual 
who is the subject of such a guardianship or con-
servatorship, and to be empowered, notwithstanding 
any objection of the legal guardian of, or conservator 
for, the individual, to communicate with the indi-
vidual, and to assist the individual in petitioning a 
court to replace the legal guardian or conservator, as 
the case may be, with a legal guardian or conser-
vator who is such an employee; 
(3) State law guarantees that, notwithstanding 
any such guardianship or conservatorship, such an 
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individual retains the right to communicate with 
such a caseworker, and to petition a court as de-
scribed in paragraph (2); and 
(4) State law requires any State employee re-
ferred to in paragraph (2) to meet such financial 
disclosure requirements as the State may establish. 
(c) GRANT AMOUNTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The amount of the grant to 
be made to a State under this section is the State 
share of the amount made available to carry out this 
section. 
(2) STATE SHARE.—For purposes of paragraph 
(1), the State share is the total number of legally in-
competent adults in the State who are under a legal 
guardianship or conservatorship divided by the total 
number of such adults in all States. 
(d) USE OF GRANT.—A State to which a grant is 
made under this section shall use the grant only to pay 
the salaries of State employees who are serving as case-
workers for, legal guardians of, or conservators for legally 
incompetent adults, and to cover related administrative ex-
penses. 
(e) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Within 90 days after the 
end of any fiscal year in which a grant is made to a State 
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under this section, the State shall submit to the Congress 
a written report that specifies— 
(1) how the funds were used; 
(2) the number of adults under legal guardian-
ship or conservatorship in the State as of the end of 
the fiscal year; 
(3) the number of petitions described in sub-
section (b)(2) that were submitted to the courts of 
the State in the fiscal year; 
(4) the ratio of the number of individuals under 
legal guardianship or conservatorship in the State 
during the fiscal year to the number of State-em-
ployed legal guardians of, or conservators for, the in-
dividuals; and 
(5) the number of individuals in the State who 
were emancipated from a legal guardianship or con-
servatorship during the fiscal year. 
(f) LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA-
TIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—For grants under this sec-
tion, there are authorized to be appropriated to the 
Secretary not more than $260,000,000, of which— 
(A) $160,000,000 shall be for States to 
hire caseworkers for legally incompetent adults 
pursuant to this section; and 
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(B) $100,000,000 shall be for States to 
hire legal guardians of, or conservators for, le-
gally incompetent adults pursuant to this sec-
tion. 
(2) AVAILABILITY.—The amounts made avail-
able under paragraph (1) are authorized to remain 
available until expended. 
(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) ADULT.—The term ‘‘adult’’ means a person 
who has attained 18 years of age and is not in foster 
care under the responsibility of a State. 
(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 
(3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the 50 
States of the United States, the District of Colum-
bia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United 
States Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of 
the Northern Mariana Islands, and American 
Samoa. 
SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF RIGHTS OF LEGALLY INCOM-
PETENT ADULTS WHO ARE THE SUBJECT OF 
A LEGAL GUARDIANSHIP OR CONSERVATOR-
SHIP. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds as follows: 
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(1) In a November 15, 2019 article, entitled 
‘‘Guardian stole more than $500,000 from elderly 
Pinellas man’’, the Tampa Bay Times reported on a 
private guardian who allegedly stole over $500,000 
from a ward over 11 months. 
(2) In an August 2, 2019 article, entitled 
‘‘Florida professional guardian Rebecca Fierle: De-
voted or dangerous?’’ the Orlando Sentinel reported 
on severe cases of alleged adult guardianship fraud 
and abuse perpetrated by a private guardian, includ-
ing physical neglect, deliberate isolation of wards 
from their families, financial exploitation, and using 
‘‘do not resuscitate’’ orders without permission. 
(3) Private guardians are at risk for financial 
conflicts of interest, because a ward’s assets, which 
they usually control, are used to pay the guardian 
for their services. 
(4) Many persons declared incapacitated by a 
judge and assigned to a private guardian have not 
even appeared in court. 
(5) A person deemed incapacitated lacks the 
legal authority to petition to have their guardian re-
moved or replaced if they believe they are being vic-
timized. 
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(6) Pop icon Britney Spears has unsuccessfully 
petitioned the judicial system to remove her father 
as her conservator for years. 
(7) Despite the fact that Ms. Spears has been 
a successful working artist for the past decade, her 
repeated requests to have her conservatorship re-
moved have been denied. 
(8) The 14th Amendment to the Constitution of 
the United States protects United States citizens 
and residents from being deprived of ‘‘life, liberty, or 
property, without due process of law’’. 
(9) The allegations in the Orlando Sentinel and 
Tampa Bay Times, along with the inability of 
Britney Spears to free herself from her father’s con-
trol, indicate that State guardianship and con-
servatorship systems can deprive a United States 
citizen or resident of liberty and property without 
due process. 
(10) In order to restore due process guaranteed 
by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the 
United States, the Federal government must guar-
antee that a United States citizen or resident placed 
under guardianship or conservatorship retains the 
right to petition to have their private guardian or 
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conservator replaced with a State guardian who is 
free from any financial conflict of interest. 
(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF RIGHT.—An individual who 
is the subject of a legal guardianship or conservatorship 
established under State law has the right to— 
(1) communicate with a caseworker referred to 
in section 2(b)(2), notwithstanding any objection of 
the legal guardian of, or conservator for, the indi-
vidual; and 
(2) petition a court to replace any person who 
is a legal guardian of, or conservator for, the indi-
vidual and who is not an employee of the State with 
a legal guardian or conservator, as the case may be, 
who is an employee of the State or who the indi-
vidual has designated in a notarized document 
signed by the individual to act as such, notwith-
standing the terms of the guardianship or con-
servatorship, as the case may be, and in any pro-
ceeding on such a petition, the petitioner shall not 
be required to prove wrongdoing or malfeasance by 
the legal guardian or conservator, as the case may 
be, as a condition of having the petition granted. 
(c) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—An individual who 
is the subject of a legal guardianship or conservatorship 
established under State law may bring an action in any 
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United States district court to enforce any right provided 
by subsection (b). The court may provide the petitioner 
in such an action with such relief as the court deems ap-
propriate. 
Æ 
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