82R30511 KLA-D
	By: Harris	S.B. No. 286
	(Hartnett)
	Substitute the following for S.B. No. 286:  No.

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to attorney's fees and other costs in guardianship
	proceedings.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 665B, Texas Probate Code, as amended by
	Chapters 314 (H.B. 587) and 930 (H.B. 3080), Acts of the 81st
	Legislature, Regular Session, 2009, is reenacted and amended to
	read as follows:
	Sec. 665B.  PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY'S FEES TO CERTAIN ATTORNEYS.
	(a)  A court that creates a guardianship or creates a management
	trust under Section 867 of this code for a ward under this chapter,
	on request of a person who filed an application to be appointed
	guardian of the proposed ward, an application for the appointment
	of another suitable person as guardian of the proposed ward, or an
	application for the creation of the management trust, may authorize
	the payment of reasonable and necessary attorney's fees, as
	determined by the court, in amounts the court considers fair and
	just, to an attorney who represents the person who filed the
	application at the application hearing, regardless of whether the
	person is appointed the ward's guardian or whether a management
	trust is created, from[:
	[(1)]  available funds of the ward's estate or
	management trust, if created, subject to Subsection (a-1) of this
	section and Section 669 of this code, if applicable.
	(a-1)  The court may authorize amounts that otherwise would
	be paid from the ward's estate or the management trust as provided
	by Subsection (a) of this section to instead be paid from the county
	treasury,[; or
	[(2)]  subject to Subsection (c) of this section, [the
	county treasury] if:
	(1) [(A)]  the ward's estate or[, if created,]
	management trust[,] is insufficient to pay [for] the amounts
	[services provided by the attorney]; and
	(2) [(B)]  funds in the county treasury are budgeted
	for that purpose.
	(b)  The court may not authorize attorney's fees under this
	section unless the court finds that the applicant acted in good
	faith and for just cause in the filing and prosecution of the
	application.
	(c)  The court may authorize the payment of attorney's fees
	from the county treasury under Subsection (a-1) [(a)] of this
	section only if the court is satisfied that the attorney to whom the
	fees will be paid has not received, and is not seeking, payment for
	the services described by that subsection from any other source.
	SECTION 2.  Section 665D(c), Texas Probate Code, is amended
	to read as follows:
	(c)  The court shall set the compensation of an attorney
	described by Subsection (a) of this section for the performance of
	guardianship services in accordance with Section 665 of this code.
	The court shall set attorney's fees for an attorney described by
	Subsection (a) of this section for legal services provided in
	accordance with Sections [665A,] 665B, [and] 666, and 669 of this
	code.
	SECTION 3.  Section 669, Texas Probate Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	Sec. 669.  COSTS IN [AGAINST] GUARDIANSHIP PROCEEDING
	GENERALLY. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
	section, in a guardianship matter, the cost of the proceeding,
	including the cost of the guardian ad litem, attorney ad litem,
	court investigator, [or] court visitor, mental health
	professionals, interpreters, and other attorneys, shall be set in
	an amount the court considers fair and just and shall be paid out of
	the guardianship estate, or, if the estate is insufficient to pay
	for the cost of the proceeding, the cost of the proceeding shall be
	paid out of the county treasury, except as provided by Subsection
	(c) of this section, and the judgment of the court shall be issued
	accordingly.
	(b)  If a court finds that a party in a guardianship
	proceeding acted in bad faith or without just cause in prosecuting
	or objecting to an application in the proceeding, the court may
	require that party to pay all or part of the costs [denies an
	application for the appointment of a guardian under this chapter
	based on the recommendation of a court investigator, the applicant
	shall pay the cost] of the proceeding.
	(c)  The court may order the applicant in a guardianship
	proceeding to pay the cost of the guardian ad litem or court visitor
	appointed in the proceeding if:
	(1)  the guardianship estate is insufficient to pay
	that cost; and
	(2)  the applicant's gross annual family income exceeds
	200 percent of the federal poverty level.
	SECTION 4.  Section 875(i), Texas Probate Code, is amended
	to read as follows:
	(i)  If the court appoints a temporary guardian after the
	hearing required by Subsection (f)(1) of this section, all court
	costs, including attorney's fees, may be assessed as provided in
	Section [665A,] 665B[,] or 669 of this code.
	SECTION 5.  Section 665A, Texas Probate Code, is repealed.
	SECTION 6.  The changes in law made by this Act apply to a
	guardianship created before, on, or after the effective date of
	this Act.
	SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
	Act takes effect September 1, 2011.