HB 4273 Text

ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 4273
(By Delegates Foster, Palumbo, Brown and Faircloth)

[Passed March 8, 2004; in effect ninety days from passage.]

AN ACT to amend and reenact §44-10-3, §44-10-4, §44-10-5 and §44-10-6 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; to amend and reenact §51-2A-2 of said code, all relating to the modification of procedures for the appointment of guardians for minor children .

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §44-10-3, §44-10-4, §44-10-5 and §44-10-6 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that §51-2A-2 of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 44. ADMINISTRATION OF ESTATES AND TRUSTS.
ARTICLE 10. GUARDIANS AND WARDS GENERALLY.
§44-10-3.

Appointment and revocation of guardian by county commission.

(a) The circuit court or family court of the county in which the minor resides, or if the minor is a nonresident of the state, the county in which the minor has an estate, may appoint as the minor's guardian a suitable person. The father or mother shall receive priority. However, in every case, the competency and fitness of the proposed guardian and the welfare and best interests of the minor shall be given precedence by the court when appointing the guardian.
(b) Within five days of the filing of a petition for the appointment of a guardian, the circuit clerk shall notify the court. The court shall hear the petition for the appointment of a guardian within ten days after the petition is filed.
(c)The court, the guardian or the minor may revoke or terminate the guardianship appointment when:
(1) The minor reaches the age of eighteen and executes a release stating that the guardian estate was properly administered and that the minor has received the assets of the estate from the guardian;
(2) The guardian or the minor dies;
(3) The guardian petitions the court to resign and the court enters an order approving the resignation; or
(4) A petition is filed by the guardian, the minor, an interested person or upon the motion of the court stating that the minor is no longer in need of the assistance or protection of a guardian.
(d) A guardianship may not be terminated by the court if there are any assets in the estate due and payable to the minor: Provided, That another guardian may be appointed upon the resignation of a guardian whenever there are assets in the estate due and payable to the minor.

§44-10-4. Right of minor to nominate guardian.

(a) If the minor is above the age of fourteen years, he or she may in the presence of the circuit or family court, or in writing acknowledged before any officer authorized to take the acknowledgment of a deed, nominate his or her own guardian, who, if approved by the court, shall be appointed accordingly.
(b) If the guardian nominated by the minor is not appointed by the court, or if the minor resides outside the state, or if, after being summoned, the minor neglects to nominate a suitable person, the court may appoint the guardian in the same manner as if the minor were under the age of fourteen years.
§44-10-5. Bond of guardian.
(a) Every guardian, except in the case of a testamentary guardian where the will otherwise directs and the court in which the will is recorded deems it unnecessary for the safety of the ward, shall give bond with security to be approved by the court by whom he or she is appointed, or before whom he or she accepts the trust, in such penalty as shall be prescribed by the court.
(b) The bond shall be given before the clerk of the court in which the petition is filed.

§44-10-6. Curator; bond; powers and duties.

Until a guardian gives bond, or while there is no guardian, the circuit or family court, may, from time to time, appoint a curator, who shall give bond, and during the continuance of his or her trust, have all the powers and perform all the duties of a guardian, and be responsible in the same way.
CHAPTER 51. COURTS AND THEIR OFFICERS.
ARTICLE 2A. FAMILY COURTS.
§51-2A-2. Family court jurisdiction; exceptions; limitations.
(a) The family court shall exercise jurisdiction over the following matters:
(1) All actions for divorce, annulment or separate maintenance brought under the provisions of article three, four or five, chapter forty-eight of this code except as provided in subsections (b) and (c) of this section;
(2) All actions to obtain orders of child support brought under the provisions of articles eleven, twelve and fourteen, chapter forty-eight of this code;
(3) All actions to establish paternity brought under the provisions of article twenty-four, chapter forty-eight of this code and any dependent claims related to such actions regarding child support, parenting plans or other allocation of custodial responsibility or decision-making responsibility for a child;
(4) All actions for grandparent visitation brought under the provisions of article ten, chapter forty-eight of this code;
(5) All actions for the interstate enforcement of family support brought under article sixteen, chapter forty-eight of this code and for the interstate enforcement of child custody brought under the provisions of article twenty, chapter forty-eight of this code;
(6) All actions for the establishment of a parenting plan or other allocation of custodial responsibility or decision-making responsibility for a child, including actions brought under the uniform child custody jurisdiction and enforcement act, as provided in article twenty, chapter forty-eight of this code;
(7) All petitions for writs of habeas corpus wherein the issue contested is custodial responsibility for a child;
(8) All motions for temporary relief affecting parenting plans or other allocation of custodial responsibility or decision-making responsibility for a child, child support, spousal support or domestic violence;
(9) All motions for modification of an order providing for a parenting plan or other allocation of custodial responsibility or decision-making responsibility for a child or for child support or spousal support;
(10) All actions brought, including civil contempt proceedings, to enforce an order of spousal or child support or to enforce an order for a parenting plan or other allocation of custodial responsibility or decision-making responsibility for a child;
(11) All actions brought by an obligor to contest the enforcement of an order of support through the withholding from income of amounts payable as support or to contest an affidavit of accrued support, filed with the circuit clerk, which seeks to collect an arrearage;
(12) All final hearings in domestic violence proceedings;
(13) Petitions for a change of name, exercising concurrent jurisdiction with the circuit court;
(14) All proceedings for payment of attorney fees if the family court judge has jurisdiction of the underlying action;
(15) All proceedings for property distribution brought under article seven, chapter forty-eight of this code;
(16) All proceedings to obtain spousal support brought under article eight, chapter forty-eight of this code; and
(17) All proceedings relating to the appointment of guardians or curators of minor children brought pursuant to sections three, four and six, article ten, chapter forty-four of this code, exercising concurrent jurisdiction with the circuit court.
(b) If an action for divorce, annulment or separate maintenance does not require the establishment of a parenting plan or other allocation of custodial responsibility or decision-making responsibility for a child and does not require an award or any payment of child support, the circuit court has concurrent jurisdiction with the family court over the action if, at the time of the filing of the action, the parties also file a written property settlement agreement executed by both parties.
(c) If an action for divorce, annulment or separate maintenance is pending and a petition is filed pursuant to the provisions of article six, chapter forty-nine of this code alleging abuse or neglect of a child by either of the parties to the divorce, annulment or separate maintenance action, the orders of the circuit court in which the abuse or neglect petition is filed shall supercede and take precedence over an order of the family court respecting the allocation of custodial and decision-making responsibility for the child between the parents. If no order for the allocation of custodial and decision-making responsibility for the child between the parents has been entered by the family court in the pending action for divorce, annulment or separate maintenance, the family court shall stay any further proceedings concerning the allocation of custodial and decision-making responsibility for the child between the parents and defer to the orders of the circuit court in the abuse or neglect proceedings.
(d) A family court is a court of limited jurisdiction. A family court is a court of record only for the purpose of exercising jurisdiction in the matters for which the jurisdiction of the family court is specifically authorized in this section and in chapter forty-eight of this code. A family court may not exercise the powers given courts of record in section one, article five, chapter fifty-one of this code or exercise any other powers provided for courts of record in this code unless specifically authorized by the Legislature. A family court judge is not a "judge of any court of record" or a "judge of a court of record" as the terms are defined and used in article nine of this chapter.

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