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A2122 • 2026

Clarifies power of court to limit restrictions by guardian concerning visitation of ward by family and interested parties; directs 10 day return to court on matters concerning visitation in some instances.

Clarifies power of court to limit restrictions by guardian concerning visitation of ward by family and interested parties; directs 10 day return to court on matters concerning visitation in some instances.

Parental Rights
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Carter, Linda S.
Last action
2026-01-13
Official status
Introduced, Referred to Assembly Judiciary Committee
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

Clarifies power of court to limit restrictions by guardian concerning visitation of ward by family and interested parties; directs 10 day return to court on matters concerning visitation in some instances.

Clarifies power of court to limit restrictions by guardian concerning visitation of ward by family and interested parties; directs 10 day return to court on matters concerning visitation in some instances.

What This Bill Does

  • Clarifies power of court to limit restrictions by guardian concerning visitation of ward by family and interested parties; directs 10 day return to court on matters concerning visitation in some instances.
  • Topic: Judiciary Fiscal note: This bill has not been certified by OLS for a fiscal note.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-01-13 New Jersey Legislature

    Introduced, Referred to Assembly Judiciary Committee

Official Summary Text

Clarifies power of court to limit restrictions by guardian concerning visitation of ward by family and interested parties; directs 10 day return to court on matters concerning visitation in some instances.
Topic:
Judiciary
Fiscal note:
This bill has not been certified by OLS for a fiscal note.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
A2122

ASSEMBLY, No. 2122

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman LINDA S. CARTER

District 22 (Somerset and Union)

SYNOPSIS

���� Clarifies power of court to limit restrictions by
guardian concerning visitation of ward by family and interested parties;
directs 10 day return to court on matters concerning visitation in some
instances.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act
concerning visitation in certain guardianship cases and
supplementing chapter 12 of Title 3B of the New Jersey Statutes.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.� Where an order to show
cause includes an application for the visitation of a family member or other
interested party, the court shall set the date on which the order to show cause
is heard and for which a temporary order will be issued no more than ten days
from the date of the signing of the order.� Upon such application for
visitation, there shall be a rebuttable presumption in favor of visitation.�
Visitation shall only be denied upon clear and convincing evidence that it is
not in the best interest of the incapacitated person, such determination shall
be on the record, or by written decision.� It shall further be within the
court�s discretion to provide any limitations deemed appropriate, including but
not limited to, supervised visitation.�

���� 2.� This act shall take effect
immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill clarifies the
authority of the court in guardianship matters where an application for
visitation of the incapacitated individual is before the court.� The court, in
guardianship matters, pursuant to its parens patriae authority, has broad
powers and discretion in the oversight of incompetency matters, including the
power to limit the authority conferred upon an appointed guardian.�

���� Under the bill, where an
application has been made to the court to obtain family or other interested
party visitation rights, the court is directed to set the date on which the
order to show cause is heard and for which a temporary order will be issued no
more than ten days from the date of the signing of the order.� The bill
establishes a rebuttable presumption in favor of visitation and provides that visitation
should only be denied upon clear and convincing evidence that it is not in the
best interest of the incapacitated individual, such determination by the court
to be on the record, or by written decision.� The court retains the discretion
to provide any limitations the court deems appropriate, including but not
limited to, supervised visitation.�