Definitions

As used in this part, the term: (1) ‘‘Designating individual’’ means a parent or guardian who appoints a standby guardian. A designating individual may only be: (A) A parent of a minor, provided that he or she has physical custody of the minor and his or her parental rights have not terminated; and provided, further, that the other parent of the minor is deceased, has had his or her parental rights terminated, cannot be found after a diligent search has been made, or has consented to the designation of and service by the standby guardian; or (B) A guardian of the minor who is duly appointed and serving pursuant to court order. (2) ‘‘Health care professional’’ means a person licensed to practice medicine under Chapter 34 of Title 43 or a person licensed as a registered professional nurse under Chapter 26 of Title 43 and authorized by the Georgia Board of Nursing to practice as a nurse practitioner. (3) ‘‘Health determination’’ means the dated, written determination by a health care professional that a designating individual is unable to care for a minor due to the designating individual’s physical or mental condition or health including a condition created by medical treatment. (4) ‘‘Standby guardian’’ means an adult who is named by a designating individual to serve as standby guardian of the minor. (Code 1981, § 29-2-9, enacted by Ga. L. 2004, p. 161, § 1.) 29-2-10. Designation of standby guardian pending health issue; required probate court filing; no bond required; parental obligation to support continues. (a) A designating individual may designate an individual to serve as standby guardian of a minor upon the health determination being made. (b) Upon the health determination being made and without the necessity of any judicial intervention, the standby guardian shall assume all the rights, duties, and responsibilities of guardianship of the person of the minor. Consistent with the designating individual’s 433 29-2-11 physical or mental condition or health, the designating individual may confer with the standby guardian in decision making concerning the care and welfare of the minor. (c) Upon the health determination being made, the standby guardian shall file with the probate court of the county of domicile of the minor a notice of the standby guardianship with a copy of the standby guardianship designation and the health determination attached thereto. (d) No bond shall be required of a standby guardian. (e) No proceedings under this part shall relieve any parent, custodial or noncustodial, of a duty to support the minor under the provisions of Chapter 6 of Title 19. (Code 1981, § 29-2-10, enacted by Ga. L. 2004, p. 161, § 1.) 29-2-11. Designation in writing; requirements of designation; form. (a) A designation of a standby guardian shall be in writing and shall be signed by the designating individual or by some other individual in the designating individual’s presence and at the designating individual’s express direction. The designation shall be attested to and subscribed by two or more competent witnesses. Neither the witness nor an individual signing on behalf of the designating individual may be named the standby guardian. (b) A standby guardian designation shall set forth the name, address, and county of domicile of the designating individual and of the standby guardian; the name, address, county of domicile, and date of birth of the minor; and the circumstances which define the parent or guardian as a designating individual. With regard to a parent of the minor who is not the designating individual, the designation shall state, to the extent known, that parent’s name and address and if that parent is deceased, has his or her parental rights terminated, and whether that parent cannot be located. The designation shall include a statement of consent, signed by the standby guardian, to serve in such capacity. (c) A standby guardian designation shall be in substantially the following form and contain the following information: DESIGNATION OF STANDBY GUARDIAN (1) IDENTIFICATION OF DESIGNATING INDIVIDUAL: I, (insert name of person designating the standby guardian), whose address is (insert address) and whose county and state of domicile are (insert name of county and state), am: 434 29-2-11 (Check and complete the ones which apply) (A) The parent with physical custody of the minor child or children listed below and my parental rights are not terminated; and the other parent, whose name is (insert name of other parent) and whose address is (insert address of other parent), of the minor child or children listed below: (A-1) Is deceased; (A-2) Has his or her parental rights to the minor or minors terminated; (A-3) Cannot be found after a diligent search has been made; or (A-4) Has consented to the designation of and service by the standby guardian as set forth below; or (B) The guardian of the minor child or children listed below, who is duly appointed and serving pursuant to court order. (2) IDENTIFICATION OF MINOR(S): The minor or minors for whom I am designating a standby guardian are: NAME ADDRESS (include county of DATE OF domicile) BIRTH (3) DESIGNATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF STANDBY GUARDIAN: Pursuant to Part 4 of Article 1 of Chapter 2 of Title 29 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, I hereby designate (insert name of standby guardian), whose address is (insert address) and whose county and state of domicile are (insert name of county and state), to serve as the standby guardian of the minor(s) whom I have identified above. (4) POWERS OF STANDBY GUARDIAN: The standby guardian whom I have designated above shall have all the rights, duties, and responsibilities under Georgia law of a guardian of a minor who has been appointed by a court. (5) DURATION OF STANDBY GUARDIANSHIP: I understand that upon a health care professional determining in writing that, due to my physical or mental health condition, I am not able to care for the minor(s) identified above, this standby guardianship shall become effective and the person whom I have designated above shall become the standby guardian of the person of the minor(s). I understand that I can revoke this standby guardianship by destroying this document, obliterating it, or by revoking it in writing with proper witnesses. I understand that if I wish to revoke the standby 435 29-2-11 guardianship after the health determination has been made I must file a notice of the revocation of the standby guardianship with the probate court and mail a copy of the notice of revocation to the standby guardian. Finally, I understand that this standby guardianship will automatically end 120 days after the health care professional makes the determination that I am unable to care for the minor(s), unless the standby guardian has filed a petition for guardianship of the minor. If the standby guardian files such a petition, the standby guardianship will remain in effect, unless otherwise revoked, until the judge rules on the petition. In considering such a petition for guardianship, I understand that the judge will give preference for the appointment to the individual whom I name as the standby guardian in this document. (6) SIGNATURE: I certify that the statements contained herein are true and correct, this day of , . (Designating individual signs here) (Print name of designating individual) We, the undersigned witnesses, are at least 18 years of age, are not designated as the standby guardian, and state that the designating individual signed this designation in our presence. (Signature of first witness) (Print first witness’s address) (Signature of second witness) (Print second witness’s address) (7) CONSENT OF PARENT (To be completed only if line A-4 in paragraph (1) above has been checked): I, designating (insert name of parent other than the one the standby guardian), whose address is (insert address), am the parent of the above named minor(s). I understand that by this form, an individual is being designated to serve as a standby guardian of my child (or children). I understand that this standby guardian will have all the rights, duties, and responsibilities under Georgia law of a guardian of the person of a minor who has been appointed by a court. I further understand that I may object to this designation. Knowing this, I consent to the designation of (insert name of standby guardian). This day of , . (Other parent signs here) 436 29-2-12 (Print name of other parent) We, the undersigned witnesses, are at least 18 years of age, are not designated as the standby guardian in this document, and state that the above-named parent signed this consent in our presence. (Signature of first witness) (Print first witness’s address) (Signature of second witness) (Print second witness’s address) (8) ACCEPTANCE OF DESIGNATION BY STANDBY GUARDIAN: I, (insert name of designated standby guardian), am the individual designated as the standby guardian in this document. I hereby accept this designation with full knowledge that upon a health care professional making a written determination that the parent of the minor(s) is not able to care for the minor(s) due to his or her physical or mental health or condition, I automatically take on this guardianship. Further, I understand that I must file a notice of my becoming a standby guardian, a copy of this designation, and a copy of the health determination with the probate court as soon as the health determination has been made. I understand that within 120 days of the health determination being made I must petition the probate court to name me as guardian of the minor(s). This day of , . (Standby guardian signs here) (Print name of standby guardian) We, the undersigned witnesses, are at least 18 years of age, are not designated as the standby guardian in this document, and state that the standby guardian signed this document in our presence. (Signature of first witness) (Print first witness’s address) (Signature of second witness) (Print second witness’s address) (Code 1981, § 29-2-11, enacted by Ga. L. 2004, p. 161, § 1.) 29-2-12. Revocation of standby guardianship prior to and subsequent to health determination. (a) At any time before the health determination is made, a standby guardianship may be revoked without notice to anyone by destruction or obliteration of the designation done by the designating individual with an intent to revoke or by a written revocation signed by the designating individual or by some other individual in the designating person’s presence and at the designating individual’s express direction and attested to and subscribed by two or more competent witnesses. 437 29-2-13 (b) After the health determination has been made, the standby guardianship may be revoked by the designating individual by filing a notice of such revocation with the court in which the standby guardianship was filed as required by Code Section 29-2-10 and by mailing a copy of the notice of revocation by first-class mail to the standby guardian. (Code 1981, § 29-2-12, enacted by Ga. L. 2004, p. 161, § 1.)