Establishes guardianship monitoring program in Office of Public Guardian for Elderly Adults.

A4224

ASSEMBLY, No. 4224

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 19, 2026

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman� CAROL A. MURPHY

District 7 (Burlington)

SYNOPSIS

���� Establishes guardianship monitoring program in Office
of Public Guardian for Elderly Adults.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act

concerning guardians for the elderly and amending P.L.1985, c.298.

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

���� 1.��� Section 6 of P.L.1985,
c.298 (C.52:27G-25) is amended to read as follows:

���� 6.��� The public guardian, as
administrator and chief executive officer:

���� a.���� Shall administer and
organize the work of the office and establish therein any administrative
divisions he may deem necessary, proper and expedient.� The public guardian may
delegate to subordinate officers or employees of the office any of his powers
as he may deem desirable to be exercised under his supervision and control;�

���� b.��� Shall adopt rules and
regulations in accordance with the "Administrative Procedure Act,"
P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.) to effectuate the purposes of this act;

���� c.���� Shall appoint and
remove stenographic, clerical and other secretarial assistants as may be
required for the proper conduct of the office, subject to the provisions of
Title 11A of the New Jersey Statutes, and other applicable statutes, and within
the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available therefor.� In
addition, and within funding limits, the public guardian may appoint, retain or
employ, without regard to the provisions of Title 11A of the New Jersey
Statutes or any other statutes, any officers, financial managers, social
workers or other professionally qualified personnel on a contract basis or
otherwise as the public guardian deems necessary;�

���� d.��� Shall maintain suitable
headquarters for the office and other quarters as the public guardian may deem
necessary to the proper functioning of the office;

���� e.���� May accept the services
of volunteer workers or consultants at no compensation, at nominal or token
compensation, or at full compensation, as appropriate, and reimburse them for
their proper and necessary expenses;�

���� f.���� Shall keep and maintain
proper financial and statistical records concerning all cases in which the
public guardian provides guardianship or conservatorship services, provided
that the privacy and confidentiality of these records for each ward are preserved;�

���� g.��� May serve as guardian
and conservator or either of these, after appointment by a court pursuant to
the provisions of Title 3B of the New Jersey Statutes, and with the same powers
and duties of a private guardian or conservator, except as otherwise limited by
law or court order;�

���� h.��� May intervene in any
guardianship or conservatorship proceeding involving a ward, by appropriate
motion by the court, if the public guardian or the court deems the intervention
to be justified because an appointed guardian or conservator is not fulfilling
his duties, the estate is subject to disproportionate waste because of the
costs of the guardianship or conservatorship, or the best interests of the ward
require intervention;�

���� i.����
Shall establish a
guardianship monitoring program within the office to monitor court-appointed
legal guardians of elderly adults to detect abuse, neglect, or exploitation.�
The monitoring program shall provide a system for review of reports submitted
by a court-appointed guardian of an elderly adult, which may include reports
concerning the ward�s well-being, and inventory and accounting reports.�

����
In order to accomplish the
goal of the program, the public guardian shall:�

����
(1)�� Ensure that the
court-appointed guardian is in compliance with the initial and periodic
reporting requirements for a guardian of an elderly adult as established by the
Superior Court pursuant to a judgment of incapacity or judgment of
guardianship, or as required pursuant to letters of guardianship issued by the
Surrogate;

����
(2)�� Review reports and
accompanying documentation submitted by the court-appointed guardian in
accordance with the established reporting requirements; and

����
(3)�� If any problems or
inconsistencies are identified following review of the reports and
documentation, the Public Guardian may intervene in proceedings in accordance
with subsection h. of this section.

����
For the purposes of this
section, the Office of the Public Guardian for Elderly Adults shall be deemed
an interested party and therefore be served with any initial and periodic
reports as required by the Superior Court or Surrogate;

����
j.
���� Shall perform
any other function which may be prescribed by this act or by any other law;
and

����
[
j.
]

k.
�� Shall appoint and
employ, notwithstanding the provisions of P.L.1944, c.20 (C.52:17A-1 et seq.),
a general counsel and such other attorneys or counsel as the public guardian
may require, for the purpose, among other things, of providing legal advice on
such matters as the public guardian may from time to time require, of attending
to and dealing with all litigation, controversies, and legal matters in which
the public guardian or any ward of the public guardian may be a party or in
which these rights and interests may be involved, and of representing the
public guardian and any ward in all proceedings or actions of any kind which
may be brought for or against them in any court of this State.� With respect to
all of the foregoing, the counsel and attorneys shall be independent of any
supervision or control by the Attorney General or by the Department of Law and
Public Safety, or by any division or officer thereof.�

(cf: P.L.1989, c.248, s.2)

���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect on the 60th day following enactment.

STATEMENT

���� This bill establishes a
guardianship monitoring program within the Office of the Public Guardian for
Elderly Adults to monitor court-appointed legal guardians of elderly adults to
detect abuse, neglect, or exploitation.� P.L.1985, c.298 (C.52:27G-20 et seq.),
which established the Public Guardian for Elderly Adults, provides for
guardianship services to be provided to elderly persons when private
guardianship is not feasible.� Under the bill, the Office of the Public
Guardian for Elderly Adults is designated as an �interested party� that must be
served with the periodic reports that must be filed by a court-appointed
guardian.� The bill provides for review of these reports and accompanying
documentation through the guardianship monitoring program.