The Guardian of the Estate Report

Part I. Introduction

Question 2 - Limited Guardianships

  • A limited guardianship is for a person whom the court finds to be partially incapacitated and in need of limited services, where the guardian has only those powers consistent with the court’s findings of the person’s limitations.

Question 3 - Report Period

  • Report Type - Always select Report unless the specified guardianship is coming to an end and you are filing your last report.

  • Report Period (Report) - When the selected period is Report, the report period consists of the calendar year spanning the following dates:

    • The first date is last year’s anniversary date of the adjudication of incapacity (ex. If the date of the adjudication was 8/26/15, the anniversary date for 2017 is 8/26/2017).

    • The second date is the day before the anniversary date in the current year.

  • Report Period (Final Report) - When the selected period is Final Report, it signifies the last Guardian of the Estate report that a guardian will file due to the incapacitated person’s death, a court order terminating the guardianship, or transfer of guardianship. In this instance, the report period must consist of the following dates:

    • The first date is last year’s anniversary date of the adjudication of incapacity (ex. If the date of the adjudication was 8/26/15, the anniversary date for 2017 is 8/26/2017).

    • The second date is the incapacitated person’s date of death or the date of the court order terminating or transferring the guardianship.

 

 

Part II. Income

Question 1 - Income Sources

  • Income Amount - The amount of income, for the selected Income Source Type, received from the beginning of the reporting period to the date that the report is submitted to the court.

  • If additional income (ex. from a pension or stocks) is expected to be paid to the incapacitated person after the report has been submitted, but within the same annual reporting period, use the Comments at the bottom of the report to summarize this pending income.

 

 

Part III. Annual Expenses

Question 1 - Care and Maintenance of the Incapacitated Person

  • Expense - Choose a category that best describes the type of expense that you are recording. If none of the categories apply, choose Other.

  • Payee - Name or summarize the individual, organization, or business to whom the expense was paid. Unless otherwise specified by the court, this entry can be general (ex. grocery store) or specific (ex. Giant, Giant Eagle, Wegmans, Walmart, etc.).

  • Amount - The amount paid to the corresponding payee during the reporting year. This should only include expenses paid from the beginning of the reporting period to the date that the report is submitted to the court.

Question 2 - Current Credit Card Balance

  • If the incapacitated person (IP) has one or more credit cards, enter the combined current balance of all their credit cards.

 


Part IV. Comparing Income Expenses

Question 2 - Unspent Income from Previous Year

  • Enter the amount, if any, of unspent income at the end of the previous reporting period. If you are completing the first Guardian of the Estate report for an incapacitated person (IP) leave this field blank.

  • Any amount reported in the GTS as unspent income will be added to the IP's principal. Typically, principal should not be spent without the court's consent.

Question 6 - Principal Spent

  • If the principal spent is greater than $0, you must indicate if a court order was obtained before this money was spent. In most instances, permission must be obtained from the court prior to spending the principal of an incapacitated person. If permission was not obtained, you must provide an explanation.

 

 

Part V. Assets

Question 1 - Value of Assets on Inventory

  • If the Inventory report was filed electronically or otherwise recorded electronically by the court, this amount displays automatically. If it is not available, enter this amount in U.S. dollars. If needed, this amount can be found on the paper version of the Inventory report or by contacting the court where the case is filed.

Question 2 - Assets Received During the Reporting Period

  • Record any assets for the incapacitated person (IP) based on the applicable scenario:

    • If the incapacitated person (IP) has assets, but none are listed under Question 3, then all assets must be recorded regardless of the year in which they were received. This might occur when the Inventory Report, or the most recent Estate Report, was filed before the introduction of the GTS (Fall 2018) and no electronic asset list exists for the IP.

    • If the incapacitated person's (IP) has assets, and an asset list displays under Question 3, then only enter any new assets that were found or received during the reporting year.

    • If the incapacitated person (IP) had no known assets from previous reporting years, and no asset list displays under Question 3, then only enter those assets that were found or received during the reporting year.

  • Asset Type - Select the option that best describes the type of asset that was found, received, or previously unrecorded in the GTS. If the type you selected is not descriptive enough, use the Description/Source field to more accurately describe the asset.

  • Description/Source - Enter a brief summary of the asset.

  • Value - Enter the amount that the asset is worth in U.S. dollars. If the incapacitated person only owns part of the asset, enter the amount that represents their share.

Question 3 - Location of Assets

  • If an asset is missing from the grid, regardless if it was obtained during the reporting year, enter the item using the fields available under Question 2 of this section.

  • If an asset was sold in its entirety, click the Asset Sold icon Asset Sold icon that appears to the right of that asset. The value of the asset will change to $0. Then, under Question 2, add a new Asset Type of Cash and Cash Equivalents and enter the sale price in the Value field.

  • If the only part of an asset was sold, click the Asset Sold icon Asset Sold icon that appears to the right of that asset. The value of the asset will change to $0. Then, change the $0 amount to the amount that the incapacitated person still maintains in the asset. A new Asset Type of Cash and Cash Equivalents and the sale price (Value) must be entered under Question 2.

  • Generally, the courts maintain that the cash received through the sale, or partial sale, of assets is considered principal and not income. If you have a question about the ability to spend money from asset sales, contact the court where the guardianship case is filed.

  • If an asset was not sold, but ownership was transferred to another individual during the reporting year, click the Asset Transferred icon Asset Transferred icon that appears to the right of that asset. This moves the asset under Question 5 of this section. Assets might be transferred to family members so the incapacitated person can qualify for Medicaid benefits.

  • If the location of an asset changed during the reporting year, but it remains the property of the incapacitated person, enter the new location.

  • If the value of an asset (ex. stocks or automobile) has depreciated in value and you have reflected this in the Value field, it is recommended that you provide supporting documents through the Upload Documents icon located at the bottom of the report.

 

 

Part VI. Guardian's Compensation

Question 1 - Compensation

  • Fee Frequency - Select the best of the available options to describe the time interval in which you routinely charge fees for your services. The GTS does not make any calculations based on the frequency selected and the value entered in the Amount field. The amount should always reflect the sum of all compensation for the entire reporting year.

Question 3 - Guardian Activity Log

  • An activity log often includes, but is not necessarily limited to, a summary of the services that the guardian performed for the incapacitated person, the date of service, and the amount of time spent.

 

 

Part VII. Attorney's Fees

Question 1 - Attorney Fees Paid

  • Fee Amount - Represents the total amount paid to the attorney for services during the reporting year. Alternatively, if you only have the attorney's rate and their number of hours, select the checkbox appearing to the left of the Fee Amount field.

  • If attorney fees were paid, and the correct attorney is not available to select, contact the court where the case filed.

 

 

Part VIII. Representative Payee

Question 1a - Social Security Administration (SSA) Benefits

  • The checkbox appearing here should only be selected if the incapacitated person (IP) does NOT receive SSA benefits.

  • Representative Payee - The name of the person or organization selected by the SSA to receive benefits on behalf of the beneficiary (incapacitated person).

  • If you filed a report with the SSA, please attach a copy of that document through the Upload Documents icon located at the bottom of the report. If a report was not required, please make a note in the Comments section.

Question 1b - Veterans Administration (VA) Benefits

  • The checkbox appearing here should only be selected if the incapacitated person (IP) does NOT receive VA benefits.

  • Fiduciary - The name of the person or organization selected by the VA to receive benefits on behalf of the beneficiary (incapacitated person).

  • If you filed a report with the VA, please attach a copy of that document through the Upload Documents icon located at the bottom of the report. If a report was not required, please make a note in the Comments section.

 


Part IX. Surety Information

Question 1 - Surety Bond Required

  • Surety Bond - A type of fiduciary bond required by some courts as a way to ensure the proper performance of the guardian's duties. Bonds are often required for individuals named as a Guardian of the Estate and provides a way to protect the incapacitated person's assets or property against financial wrongdoing.

  • The answer to this question will default to Yes or No automatically and cannot be changed. This information is recorded and maintained by the court based on the final decree.

Question 2 - Professional/Guardian Liability Insurance

  • A professional guardianship agency is an organization that can be appointed as a guardian for an incapacitated person (IP) and employs individuals that perform the functions of a guardian on behalf of the organization.

  • If you answer Yes to the question about having liability coverage, you must submit a copy of the policy to the court. You have the option to upload an electronic copy of the document to the report. Alternatively, you can send a copy of the policy to the court office through the regular mail.

 

 

Part X. Guardian Information

Question 1 - Guardianship Training or Certification

  • Your training/certification information may display automatically if you entered this information through your GTS Profile.

  • Training/Certification Date(s) - If you completed training, enter the dates of the training in the available fields. If the training was only one day, enter the same date in both the Start and End fields. If you received a certification, enter the date you became certified in both fields.

  • Provider - The name of the person, organization, or institution that organized and offered the training.

  • Description - Used to summarize the topics that were covered during training.

  • If there are co-guardians, and each completed the same training or certification during the reporting year, the details for each person should be recorded separately.

Question 2 - Judgments or Bankruptcy Protection

  • Judgment - A court order that resulted from a lawsuit initiated by a creditor or debt collector for non-payment.

 

 

Signature and Affirmation

Signature of Guardian

  • In GTS, electronic signatures are an acceptable alternative to handwritten signatures. The format of an electronic signature includes an "/s/" followed by the guardian's first and last name (ex. /s/ John Smith).

Comments

  • It is possible that a guardianship could have special circumstances that cannot be addressed fully within the context of the report form. Use this field to explain anything that could not be more fully explained elsewhere on the report.

Uploading Documents

  • Use the Upload Documents icon Upload Documents icon to add documents requested by the court or to provide supporting evidence for an answer/comment you recorded elsewhere on the report.

  • Clicking the CHOOSE FILE button opens a popup screen that allows you to browse to any location on your computer where you have a document saved. Only one document can be selected at any given time, but you can repeat this process if you need to upload multiple documents.

  • Only documents saved as a PDF can be uploaded to the GTS.

Notice of Filing checkbox

  • By clicking this checkbox you are acknowledging the need, per Pa.R.O.C.P. Rule 14.8(b), to serve a notice of filing to each person entitled to receive such notice as identified in the final decree that appointed the guardian(s). This notice must be served within 10 days of submitting the guardian of the estate report.

  • Service of the notice of filing cannot be completed electronically through the GTS and should not be attached as a supplemental document to the guardian of the estate report. Service must take place outside of the GTS by other delivery methods (ex. mail, fax, personal delivery, e-mail).

  • A copy of the notice of filing form can be obtained at http://www.pacourts.us/forms/for-the-public/orphans-court-forms.

Save, Save and Close, Ready for Submission, Submit, and View Draft options

  • Save - Saves any changes you made without exiting the report. You should save often. If you leave the report idle for an extended period of time, the report may time out and you will lose your changes. Unlike the Submit option, the GTS does not check if the report is missing any required information during the save process.

  • Save and Close - Saves any changes you made to the report and returns you to your Dashboard. Unlike the Submit and Ready for Review options, the GTS does not check if the report is missing any required information during the save process. You can return to work on the report by clicking the appropriate Edit Report icon Edit Report icon in the Upcoming and Overdue Reports section of your Dashboard.

  • Ready for Review - Saves the report and sends it to a designated reviewer. This function is used in some guardian organizations to provide oversight before reports are submitted to the court.

  • Ready for Submission - Saves any changes you made to the report and checks if the report is missing any required information. If all required information has been entered, you are returned to your Dashboard where the Add to Cart icon displays for the report. If required information is missing, you will be prompted to add the missing details before re-attempting.

  • Submit - Submits the report to the court. If required information is missing, the report will not be submitted and you will be prompted to add the missing details before re-attempting.

  • VIEW DRAFT - Generates a draft of what the report looks like at the present time. This feature can be used before submitting to ensure the report appears the way it is intended. The draft of the report opens as a PDF in a new window or tab which gives you the option to print. When finished, return to the tab in your browser for the UJS Web Portal.