Bill Text: NJ A4583 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes procedure to enforce certain visitation rights of incapacitated person and persons receiving care from caregiver.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-10-15 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Human Services Committee [A4583 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-A4583-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ANTHONY S. VERRELLI
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Assemblywoman LISA SWAIN
District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblyman P. CHRISTOPHER TULLY
District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblywoman JOANN DOWNEY
District 11 (Monmouth)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes procedure to enforce certain visitation rights of incapacitated persons and persons receiving care from caregiver.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning certain rights of incapacitated persons and persons receiving care from a caregiver and supplementing Title 3B of the New Jersey Statutes and Title 10 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. An individual who has been found by the court to be incapacitated, and for whom a general or limited guardian of the person has been appointed pursuant to section 12 of P.L.2005, c.304 (C.3B:12-24.1) and qualified before a county surrogate, shall retain the right to receive visitors, telephone calls, and personal mail, unless specifically limited by court order.
b. Upon the petition of an adult child or sibling of the incapacitated person, the court may conduct a hearing and issue an order that grants a guardian of the person the power to enforce the incapacitated person's right to receive visitors, telephone calls, and personal mail, an order that directs a guardian to permit the incapacitated person to receive visitors, telephone calls, and personal mail, or any other order that the court determines to be appropriate in the circumstances of the particular incapacitated person concerning those rights.
c. If the health of the incapacitated person is in significant decline or the death of the incapacitated person is imminent, the court shall schedule and conduct the hearing required pursuant to subsection b. of this section on an emergent, expedited basis.
2. A guardian of the person shall, upon request by an adult child or sibling of the incapacitated person, or as ordered by the court, provide notification of any of the following, within 24 hours of the event's occurrence: the incapacitated person's admission to a hospital or hospice care, the death of the incapacitated person, the finalization of funeral arrangements, and the disposition of the person's remains.
3. As used in this act:
"Caregiver" means a person, unrelated by blood to the resident, who provides care to the resident on a paid or unpaid basis.
"Family member" means an adult child or sibling of the resident.
"Resident" means an adult who is receiving care and services from a caregiver in the resident's home or other residence, and who is not subject to a guardianship of the person.
4. a. If a family member of the resident is being denied the opportunity to visit, telephone, or mail the resident by the caregiver, the family member may petition the court of the county in which the resident resides to compel visitation, or telephonic or mail contact with the resident. The court shall conduct a hearing and issue an order, as appropriate.
b. The court shall not issue an order compelling visitation if the resident has capacity and has expressed a desire not to be visited or contacted by the petitioning family member, or if the court finds that visitation, or telephonic or mail contact by the petitioner is not in the resident's best interests.
c. If the health of the resident is in significant decline or the death of the resident is imminent, the court shall schedule and conduct the hearing required pursuant to subsection a. of this section on an emergent, expedited basis.
5. The Supreme Court of the State of New Jersey may adopt court rules as may be appropriate or necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act.
6. This act shall take effect on the first day of the third month next following enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill would prevent guardians of the person and caregivers from being able to deny certain family members from visiting or having telephonic or mail contact with their family member, who is incapacitated or receives care from a caregiver.
This bill expressly reserves to individuals who are subject to a general or limited guardianship of the person, the right to receive visitors, telephone calls, and personal mail, unless specifically limited by court order. The bill provides that the court may issue an order that specifically grants a guardian of the person the power to enforce the incapacitated person's right to receive visitors, telephone calls, and personal mail, an order that directs a guardian to allow the person to receive visitors, telephone calls and personal mail, or any other order that the court determines to be appropriate in the circumstances of a particular incapacitated person concerning that person's right to receive visitors, telephone calls, and personal mail. If the health of the incapacitated person is in significant decline or the death of the incapacitated person is imminent, the court is to schedule and conduct the hearing on an emergent, expedited basis.
The bill requires a guardian of the person, upon request by an adult child or sibling of the incapacitated person, or as ordered by the court, to provide notification of any of the following, within 24 hours of the event's occurrence: the incapacitated person's admission to a hospital or hospice care, the death of the incapacitated person, the finalization of funeral arrangements, and the disposition of the person's remains.
The bill similarly provides that a sibling or adult child who is being denied the opportunity to visit, telephone, or mail a resident (who is not subject to a guardianship of the person) who is receiving care from a caregiver in the resident's home or in another residence, may petition the court of the county in which the resident resides to compel visitation, or telephonic or mail contact with the resident. The bill defines "caregiver" as a person, unrelated by blood to the resident, who provides care to the resident on a paid or unpaid basis.
Further, the bill requires that the court not issue an order compelling visitation if the resident has capacity and has expressed a desire not to be visited or contacted by the petitioning family member, or if the court finds that visitation, or telephonic or mail contact by the petitioner is not in the resident's best interests. The court is to schedule and conduct the hearing on an emergent, expedited basis if the health of the resident is in significant decline or the death of the resident is imminent.
Similar legislation has been enacted in California and other states following media reports of family members, including those of actor Mickey Rooney and of country music star Glen Campbell, who were denied the right to visit or communicate with their ailing parent or relative by that person's legal guardian. The daughter of a New Jersey couple in Cherry Hill reported that she and her aunt were denied access to her mother for the last three years of her mother's life by her own father and the mother's caregiver.
The bill would take effect on the first day of the third month following enactment.
