(1) FILING.—A guardian of the property shall file a verified inventory of the ward’s property.

(2) CONTENTS.—The verified inventory must include the following:

(a) All property of the ward, real and personal, that has come into the guardian’s possession or knowledge, including a statement of all encumbrances, liens, and other secured claims on any item, any claims against the property, any cause of action accruing to the ward, and any trusts of which the ward is a beneficiary.

(b) The location of the real and personal property in sufficient detail so that it may be clearly identified or located.

(c) A description of all sources of income, including, without limitation, social security benefits and pensions.

(3) CASH ASSETS.—Along with the verified inventory, the guardian must file a copy of the most current statement of all of the ward’s cash assets from all institutions where the cash is on deposit.

(4) SAFE-DEPOSIT BOX.—

(a) The initial opening of any safe-deposit box of the ward must be conducted in the presence of an employee of the institution where the box is located. The inventory of the contents of the box also must be conducted in the presence of the employee, who must verify the contents of the box by signing a copy of the inventory. This safe-deposit box inventory shall be filed with the court within 10 days after the box is opened.

(b) The guardian shall provide the ward with a copy of each signed safe-deposit box inventory unless the ward is a minor or has been adjudicated totally incapacitated or unless the order appointing the guardian states otherwise.

(c) Nothing may be removed from the ward’s safe-deposit box without specific court approval.

(5) RECORDS RETENTION.—

(a) The guardian shall maintain substantiating papers and records sufficient to demonstrate the accuracy of the initial inventory for a period of 3 years after her or his discharge. The substantiating papers need not be filed with the court but must be made available for inspection and review at such time and place and before such persons as the court may order.

(b) As part of the substantiating papers, the guardian must identify by name, address, and occupation, the witness or witnesses, if any, who were present during the initial inventory of the ward’s personal property.

(6) AUDIT FEE.—

1(a) Where the value of the ward’s property exceeds $25,000, a guardian shall pay from the ward’s property to the clerk of the circuit court a fee of up to $85, from which the clerk shall remit $10 to the Department of Revenue for deposit into the General Revenue Fund, upon the filing of the verified inventory, for the auditing of the inventory. Upon petition by the guardian, the court may waive the auditing fee upon a showing of insufficient funds in the ward’s estate. Any guardian unable to pay the auditing fee may petition the court for waiver of the fee. The court may waive the fee after it has reviewed the documentation filed by the guardian in support of the waiver.

(b) An audit fee may not be charged to any ward whose property has a value of less than $25,000.

History.—s. 49, ch. 89-96; s. 32, ch. 90-271; s. 1087, ch. 97-102; s. 115, ch. 2003-402; s. 77, ch. 2004-265; s. 14, ch. 2006-178; s. 40, ch. 2008-111; s. 26, ch. 2019-58.

1Note.—

A. Section 26, ch. 2019-58, amended paragraph (6)(a) “[e]ffective upon this act becoming a law and retroactive to July 1, 2008.”

B. Section 30, ch. 2019-58, provides that “[t]he amendments made by this act to ss. 27.52, 28.24, 28.2401, 28.241, 34.041, 45.035, 55.505, 61.14, 316.193, 318.14, 318.15, 318.18, 322.245, 327.35, 327.73, 379.401, 713.24, 721.83, 744.365, 744.3678, 766.104, and 938.05, Florida Statutes, are remedial and clarifying in nature and apply retroactively to July 1, 2008.”

C. Section 31, ch. 2019-58, provides that “[t]he amendments to the jurisdiction of a court made by this act shall apply with respect to the date of filing the cause of action, regardless of when the cause of action accrued.”