Opinion ID: 2590411
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: the oklahoma guardianship act

Text: ¶ 15 The same year that it enacted the ODPA Act (1988), the Legislature enacted the Oklahoma Guardianship Act, [11] renumbering and substantially augmenting the existing guardianship statutes. 1988 Okla. Sess. Laws 1766-1832, ch. 329, §§ 1-138 (now codified at 30 O.S.1991, §§ 1-101 to 5-101). In support of his position, Russell cites numerous sections of title 30 of the Oklahoma Statutes dealing with guardianship. [12] Russell fails to inform this Court of the relevance of most of the cited statutes, fails to address how they support her position, and fails to apply statutory construction rules to explain why the guardianship statutes should control over section 1074's plain language. ¶ 16 We do not disagree with Russell that, in a general guardianship all of a ward's property is subject to the control of the court having jurisdiction over the guardianship. A court having jurisdiction over the guardianship has exclusive jurisdiction to determine how the estate of the ward shall be managed, expended, or distributed to or for the use of the ward or the dependents of the ward. 30 O.S.2001, § 1-113(A). The court having jurisdiction over the guardianship also has the exclusive jurisdiction to control [the] guardian in the management and disposition of the person and property. Id. § 1-114(A). A general guardian is defined as a guardian of the person or of all the property of the ward within this state or of both such person and property. Id. § 1-109(A). In relying on these guardianship statutes to reach the conclusion she draws, Russell fails to recognize that the guardianship statutes, when construed together are sufficiently broad as to allow a DPA to exist within a general guardianship. ¶ 17 Under subsection 3-101(D) of the Guardianship Act, a person seeking to be appointed guardian of the property of an incapacitated or partially incapacitated person may attach, to the petition, a guardianship plan for the management of the ward's financial resources or submit the plan at the time of the hearing on the petition. [13] Id. § 3-101(C). If a management plan is not submitted with the petition or at the time of the hearing, the guardian must submit one within two months after being appointed. Id. § 3-122(A). Letters are issued after the guardian's appointment which define the guardian's authority and power and are proof of the court's authorization for the guardian to act in accordance with the management plan and within the law. Id. § 1-111(15). Section 4-705 of the Guardianship Act specifically recognizes that the guardian is responsible for the day-to-day management of the ward's assets and requires the guardian to manage the ward's estate frugally and without waste. Id. § 4-705. The guardian may do this by the guardian's own actions, and there is nothing in the Guardianship Act which prevents the guardian from utilizing the attorney-in-fact, who is accountable to the guardian for her actions, in carrying out the guardian's duties. [14] See 58 O.S.2001, § 1074(A). As pointed out in Rice v. Floyd, 768 S.W.2d 57, 60 (Ky.1989), the UDPA Act and the UPC allow the attorney-in-fact to continue to manage the principal's financial affairs, while the court-appointed fiduciary would take the place of the principal in overseeing the actions of the attorney-in-fact. ¶ 18 A year after the guardian's appointment, every year thereafter, and upon court order, the guardian of the property is required by statute to file a report, which shall contain a complete financial statement of the ward's financial resources over which the guardian has control or supervision and an accounting of any receipts and disbursements received, or expenditures made on the ward's behalf. 30 O.S.2001, §§ 4-303(A), 4-306(E). Since the attorney-in-fact is accountable to the guardian, and all of the ward's property is a part of a general guardianship of the property over which the guardian has control or supervision, the annual report will reflect transactions involving the ward's property made by the attorney-in-fact, as well as the guardian. See id. § 4-306(E). The court exercises its jurisdiction to determine how the estate of the ward shall be managed, expended, or distributed not by issuing specific orders for day-to-day expenditures [15] but by exercising control through its approval or disapproval the guardian's reports. See id. § 1-114. ¶ 19 Russell's argument that the Guardianship Act effectively terminates a DPA once a general guardian is appointed is unconvincing. The Guardianship Act's scheme for the management of a ward's estate is sufficiently broad as to allow a guardian to manage the ward's assets through an attorney-in-fact. The guardian is then accountable to the court for any actions taken by the attorney-in-fact. If a guardian does not want to be accountable to the ward and to the court for the attorney-in-fact's actions under a DPA, section 1074 of the ODPA Act allows the guardian to revoke or limit the agency created by a DPA.