Families pushing for more reform
Bill moves forward in Senate; advocates say it doesn’t go far enough
TALLAHASSEE — Legislation reforming the state’s guardianship program for elderly wards unable to care for themselves passed unanimously through its second Senate panel Tuesday. But advocates for reform who claim their family members were exploited by a guardian said the bill doesn’t go far enough.
“I don’t believe any amount of laws and regulations you could throw at good guardians are going to stop good guardians,” said Lynn Saylor, who told the panel her mother was taken advantage of after being placed in guardianship. “I think you need to just make sure your laws and your rules do affect the bad players.”
State Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, sponsor of SB 994, said she’d like to overhaul the guardianship program, but will have to address that in the coming years. Passidomo is the Republican Senate Leader and is slated to become Senate President in 2022 if the GOP retains control of the chamber.
“(The bill is) narrow in scope,” Passidomo said. “I would’ve liked to have done a complete rewrite of Florida’s guardianship laws but that’s going to take a couple of
years and we wanted to address the issues that have recently arisen.”
The bill requires judges to review whether potential guardians have conflicts of interest before assigning them to a ward; requires court approval for a guardian to sign a Do Not Resuscitate order on behalf of a ward; and requires guardians to report how much they were paid in an annual report.
The panel amended the bill — which prohibits a guardian from petitioning for their own appointment — to exempt guardians who are being paid by the state, not by the ward’s estate. Another change inserted Tuesday was a 72-hour deadline for a court to make a decision after receiving a petition for a Do Not Resuscitate order.
Passidomo said the bill was filed in response to the case of Rebecca Fierle, who is alleged to have signed a Do Not Resuscitate order for Stephen Stryker against his wishes. Stryker, 75, died while under the order. Fierle was a guardian for more than 400 clients and is accused of double-billing AdventHealth of nearly $4 million over the course of a decade.
Yet advocates for bigger reforms to the program said some provisions could still allow exploitation to occur.
Teresa Kennedy, an elder rights advocate, called for petitioners for guardianship to provide greater evidence, He added the measure could still allow unscrupulous guardians to fool judges and the courts.
“Right now they can lie without risk of reprimand, and this is the foundation of the exploitation,” Kennedy said. “Having to request court approval for (Do Not Resuscitate orders), for example, may give guardians a greater shield of legality based simply on their word.”
Still, other advocates noted the bill was an improvement on the loopholes in the current law.
“This bill is very narrow in scope and it’s addressing an issue that’s an immediate crisis,” said Zayne Smith, associate state director for AARP Florida. “If we want to protect vulnerable adults and individuals in a guardianship situation who are not protected right now, this is the answer.”
The bill has one more committee stop in the Senate before reaching the floor, and the House version, HB 709, also has one more hearing in that chamber before going before the full body.