State of Illinois
92nd General Assembly
Legislation

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92_HB2055

 
                                               LRB9206443WHcs

 1        AN ACT concerning probate.

 2        Be  it  enacted  by  the People of the State of Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

 4        Section  5.  The  Probate  Act  of  1975  is  amended  by
 5    changing Section 11-13 as follows:

 6        (755 ILCS 5/11-13) (from Ch. 110 1/2, par. 11-13)
 7        Sec. 11-13.  Duties of guardian of  a  minor.   Before  a
 8    guardian  of a minor may act, the guardian shall be appointed
 9    by the court of the proper county  and,  in  the  case  of  a
10    guardian  of  the minor's estate, the guardian shall give the
11    bond prescribed in  Section  12-2.   Except  as  provided  in
12    Section  11-13.1  and  Section  11-13.2  with  respect to the
13    standby or short-term guardian of the person of a minor,  the
14    court  shall  have  control over the person and estate of the
15    ward.  Under the direction of the court:
16        (a)  The guardian of the person shall have  the  custody,
17    nurture  and  tuition and shall provide education of the ward
18    and of the ward's his children, but the ward's spouse may not
19    be deprived of the custody  and  education  of  the  spouse's
20    children,  without  consent  of  the spouse, unless the court
21    finds that the spouse is not a fit and  competent  person  to
22    have  such  custody  and  education.  If the ward's estate is
23    insufficient to provide for  the  ward's  education  and  the
24    guardian  of his person fails to provide education, the court
25    may award the custody of the ward to some  other  person  for
26    the  purpose  of  providing  education.   If a person makes a
27    settlement upon or provision for the support or education  of
28    a  ward  and  if either parent of the ward is dead, the court
29    may make an such order for the visitation of the ward by  the
30    person  making  the settlement or provision that as the court
31    deems proper.
 
                            -2-                LRB9206443WHcs
 1        (b)  The guardian or other representative of  the  ward's
 2    estate  shall have the care, management and investment of the
 3    estate, shall manage the estate frugally and shall apply  the
 4    income  and  principal  of the estate so far as necessary for
 5    the comfort and suitable support and education of  the  ward,
 6    his  children,  and  persons related by blood or marriage who
 7    are dependent upon or entitled to support from  him,  or  for
 8    any  other  purpose  which the court deems to be for the best
 9    interests of the ward, and the court may approve  the  making
10    on  behalf  of  the  ward  of  such  agreements  as the court
11    determines  to  be  for  the  ward's  best  interests.    The
12    representative  may make disbursement of his ward's funds and
13    estate directly to the ward or other distributee or  in  such
14    other  manner  and  in such amounts as the court directs.  If
15    the estate of a ward is derived in  whole  or  in  part  from
16    payments  of  compensation,  adjusted  compensation, pension,
17    insurance or other similar  benefits  made  directly  to  the
18    estate   by   the  Veterans  Administration,  notice  of  the
19    application for leave to invest or expend the ward's funds or
20    estate, together with a copy of  the  petition  and  proposed
21    order,   shall  be  given  to  the  Veterans'  Administration
22    Regional Office in this State at  least  7  days  before  the
23    hearing  on  the  application.  The court, upon petition of a
24    guardian of the estate of a minor, may permit the guardian to
25    make a will or create a revocable or  irrevocable  trust  for
26    the  minor  that  the court considers appropriate in light of
27    changes in applicable tax laws that allow for minimization of
28    State  or  federal  income,  estate,  or  inheritance  taxes;
29    however, the will or trust must make  distributions  only  to
30    the  persons  who  would be entitled to  distributions if the
31    minor were to die intestate and the will or trust must   make
32    distributions  to  those persons in the same amounts to which
33    they  would be entitled if the minor were to die intestate.
34        (c)  Upon the direction of the  court  which  issued  his
 
                            -3-                LRB9206443WHcs
 1    letters  a  representative  may  perform the contracts of his
 2    ward which  were  legally  subsisting  at  the  time  of  the
 3    commencement  of  the  guardianship.  The court may authorize
 4    the guardian to execute and deliver any bill of sale, deed or
 5    other instrument.
 6        (d)  The representative of the estate  of  a  ward  shall
 7    appear  for  and  represent the ward in all legal proceedings
 8    unless another  person  is  appointed  for  that  purpose  as
 9    representative  or  next  friend.   This  does not impair the
10    power of any court to appoint a representative or next friend
11    to defend the interests of the ward  in  that  court,  or  to
12    appoint  or  allow any person as the next friend of a ward to
13    commence, prosecute or defend any proceeding in  his  behalf.
14    Any  proceeding  on  behalf  of  a minor may be commenced and
15    prosecuted by his next friend, without any previous authority
16    or appointment by the court if the next  friend  enters  bond
17    for  costs  and files it in the court where the proceeding is
18    pending. Without impairing the power  of  the  court  in  any
19    respect,  if  the representative of the estate of a minor and
20    another person as next friend shall appear for and  represent
21    the  minor in a legal proceeding in which the compensation of
22    the attorney or attorneys representing the guardian and  next
23    friend   is   solely   determined   under  a  contingent  fee
24    arrangement, the guardian of the estate of  the  minor  shall
25    not participate in or have any duty to review the prosecution
26    of   the   action,   to   participate   in   or   review  the
27    appropriateness of  any  settlement  of  the  action,  or  to
28    participate   in   or   review   any   determination  of  the
29    appropriateness of  any  fees  awarded  to  the  attorney  or
30    attorneys employed in the prosecution of the action.
31        (e)  Upon  petition  by  any interested person (including
32    the standby or short-term  guardian),  with  such  notice  to
33    interested  persons as the court directs and a finding by the
34    court that it is in the best interest of the minor, the court
 
                            -4-                LRB9206443WHcs
 1    may  terminate  or  limit  the  authority  of  a  standby  or
 2    short-term guardian or may enter such  other  orders  as  the
 3    court deems necessary to provide for the best interest of the
 4    minor.   The  petition  for  termination or limitation of the
 5    authority of a standby or short-term guardian may,  but  need
 6    not, be combined with a petition to have a guardian appointed
 7    for the minor.
 8    (Source: P.A. 90-345, eff. 8-8-97; 91-149, eff. 1-1-00.)

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