In re Amendments to Florida Probate Rule 5.590

Summary

The Supreme Court of Florida adopted an amendment to Florida Probate Rule 5.590 concerning applications for appointment as guardian. The amendment requires applicants to disclose whether they have ever been arrested or convicted of a felony, subject to an exception for certain human-trafficking-victim expunctions. The amendment became effective immediately upon release of the opinion, with a sixty-day period for filing comments.

Holdings

1. Florida Probate Rule 5.590(a)(1)(A) is amended to require an application for appointment as guardian to include a statement indicating whether the applicant has ever been arrested or convicted of a felony, even if the record of the arrest or conviction has been expunged, unless the expunction was ordered under section 943.0583, Florida Statutes.
2. The amendments become effective immediately upon release of the opinion, notwithstanding that they were not published for comment before adoption; interested persons are permitted sixty days from the opinion date to submit comments.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Supreme Court of Florida should amend Florida Probate Rule 5.590(a)(1)(A) to require guardian applicants to disclose prior arrests and felony convictions, including expunged records, subject to the statutory human-trafficking expunction exception.
2. Whether the proposed rule amendment should become effective immediately while permitting post-adoption comments.

Disposition

other