An Act To Amend Laws Relating to Persons Serving as Permanency Guardians or Receiving Permanency Guardianship Subsidies
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 0515
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: ROSEN, PINGREE
Amends: 18-A MRSA §5, 19-A MRSA §2001, 22 MRSA §4038-C

Legislative Document 
No. 515 
S.P.170 
February 2, 2007 
An Act To Amend Laws Relating to Persons Serving as Permanency 
Guardians or Receiving Permanency Guardianship Subsidies 
Submitted by the Department of Health and Human Services pursuant to Joint Rule 204. 
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Senator ROSEN of Hancock. 
Cosponsored by Representative PINGREE of North Haven. 
Prink'Li nil rel:ydeu paper 
JOY J. O'BRIEN 
Secretary of the Senate 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 18-A MRSA §5-311, sub-§(b), ~(3-A) is enacted to read: 
C3-A). A person who served as guardian, pennanency guardian or legal custodian of 
the incapacitated person when the incapacitated person was a child, if the person was 
actively serving in that capacity immediately before the incapacitated person's 18th 
birthday; 
Sec.2. 18-A MRS A §5-311, sub-§(b), ~(5), as enacted by PL 1979, c. 540, §1, 
is amended to read: 
(5). 
Any relative of the incapacitated person with whom he the incapacitated person 
resided for more than 6 months prior to the filing of the petition; or 
Sec. 3. 18-A MRS A §5-311, sub-§(b), ~(6), as enacted by PL 1979, c. 540, §1, 
is amended to read: 
(6). 
A person nominated by the person who is caring for him the incapacitated 
person or paying benefits to -him the incapacitated person. 
Sec. 4. 18-A MRS A §5-31l, sub-§(c), as amended by PL 2003, c. 672, §12, is 
further amended to read: 
(c). 
We An owner, proprietor, administrator, employee or other person with a 
substantial financial interest in a facility or institution licensed under Title 22, sections 
1817 and 7801, may not act as guardian of an incapacitated person who is a resident, as 
defmed in Title 22, section 7852, subsection 13, unless the person requesting to be 
appointed guardian is one of the following: 
(1). 
The spouse of the incapacitated person; 
(I-A). 
The domestic partner of the incapacitated person; 
(2). 
An adult child of the incapacitated person; 
(2-A). A person who served as guardian, permanency guardian or legal custodian of 
the incapacitated person when the incapacitated person was a child, if the person was 
actively serving in that capacity immediately before the incapacitated person's 18th 
birthday; 
(3). 
A parent of the incapacitated person or a person nominated by the will of a 
deceased parent; or 
(4). 
A relative of the incapacitated person with whom the incapacitated person has 
resided for more than 6 months prior to the filing of the petition for appointment. 
Sec. 5. 19-A MRSA §2001, sub-§5, ~A, as amended by PL 2003, c. 123, §l, is 
further amended to read: 
A. 
Gross income includes income from an ongoing source, including, but not 
limited to, salaries, wages, commissions, royalties, bonuses, dividends, severance 
pay, pensions, interest, trust funds, annuities, capital gains, social security benefits, 
Page I - 123LR0819(Ol)-1 
disability insurance benefits, prizes, workers' compensation benefits, spousal support 
actually received pursuant to a preexisting order from a spouse who is not the parent 
of the child for whom support is being determined, and educational grants, 
fellowships or subsidies that are available for personal living expenses. 
Gross 
income does not include child support or permanency guardianship subsidies 
received by either party for children other than the child for whom support is being 
determined. 
Sec. 6. 22 MRS A §4038, sub-§l-A, as amended by PL 2003, c. 408, §§2 to 5, is 
further amended to read: 
I-A. No mandated review. Notwithstanding subsection 1, no subsequent judicial 
review is required unless petitioned for by any party or unless specifically ordered by the 
court: 
A. 
When custody has been granted to a person other than a parent or the 
department; ef 
B. 
When custody has been granted to a parent who did not have custody at the time 
the child protection petition was filed~~ 
E. When a permanency guardianship has been established pursuant to section 4038-
C. 
Sec. 7. 22 MRSA §4038-C, sub-§12 is enacted to read: 
12. Appointments terminate; later appointments. Unless the District Court has 
scheduled a judicial review or orders otherwise, the court's appointments of the guardian 
ad litem and attorneys for parents and guardians terminate, and the attorneys and guardian 
ad litem have no further responsibilities to their clients or the court upon appointment of a 
permanency guardian pursuant to this section. If a party files a motion for judicial review 
when no judicial review is required pursuant to section 4038, subsection I-A, or if a party 
files a petition pursuant to subsection 6 to terminate a permanency guardianship or 
determine rights of contact, the court shall appoint a guardian ad litem and attorneys for 
indigent parents and custodians, including permanency guardians, as required by section 
4005. 
Sec. 8. 36 MRSA §S122, sub-§2, ~ 
is enacted to read: 
Y. To the extent included in federal adjusted gross income, any amount constituting 
a permanency guardianship subsidy pursuant to Title 22, section 4038-D. 
SUMMARY 
This bill allows a person who served as a child's guardian, permanency guardian or 
legal custodian at the time of the child's 18th birthday to serve as the child's guardian if 
the child becomes an incapacitated adult, if the person is not otherwise disqualified from 
serving in that capacity. 
This bill establishes that income from a permanency guardianship subsidy may not be 
considered income for the purposes of calculating a child support entitlement or child 
support obligation nor for the computation of taxable income for resident individuals. 
This bill provides that a child protection case in which a court has made a jeopardy 
order does not need to be reviewed every 6 months if a permanency guardian has been 
established, unless judicial review is petitioned for by a party or specifically ordered by 
the court. 
The bill also provides that the court's appointments of the guardian ad litem and 
attorneys for the parties terminate upon appointment of a permanency guardian, unless 
the court has scheduled a judicial review or orders otherwise.