Ask Chair Robinson To Schedule HB 887 For Guardianship Reform
Use this form to ask the Chair of the House Subcommittee on Civil Justice to schedule HB 887 in just a few clicks. You will have the chance to personalize your letter if you chose on the next page.
This legislation is crucial—it protects vulnerable individuals in guardianships by ensuring regular reevaluations, preventing isolation, and increasing transparency.
Together, we can make a real difference in safeguarding those who need it most!
Background information on the issue:
Guardianship entails the legal responsibility where someone, be it a state-appointed stranger or a family member/friend, cares for another person, known as a ward. The guardian may wield varying degrees of control, often resulting in the ward losing several or all of their rights.
In Florida, our Guardianship System faces significant flaws, marked by inadequate oversight, and a lack of both transparency and protective measures. Countless individuals have endured hardships within our current system, prompting Florida’s Guardianship Improvement Task Forces since 2003 to advocate for reforms.
SB 48 / HB 887 represents legislation that would formalize some of the pivotal reforms advocated by these Task Forces over the past 2 decades. The legislation aims to fortify safeguards and uphold the rights of vulnerable individuals in guardianships, often the elderly or those with developmental disabilities.
It proposes critical measures such as mandatory reassessments every 3 years to determine ongoing necessity of the guardianship, ensuring visitation rights for loved ones (unless contrary to the person's best interest), transparency concerning their estate upon establishment of guardianship, and potentially convening a jury to scrutinize document alterations.
We urge all activists and stakeholders to engage in supporting this crucial legislation. In a state with over 4 million elderly individuals and a persistently broken system, it’s long overdue to rectify these issues. In some cases, lives are literally hanging in the balance, and others are subject to ongoing abuse, neglect, and isolation.
Please take a mere 2 minutes today to act and help us usher in the changes desperately needed in 2024. Let's make this the year where these vital reforms finally materialize!
Letter Campaign by
Miami, Florida
