SUGGEsTED AMENDMENTS TO GENERAL RULE (GR) 22

access to family Law and Guardianship Records

(A) Name of Proponent:    Administrative Office of the Courts

(B) of Guardianship and Elder Services

(C) Purpose:            Background:  The suggested amendments aim to align GR 22 with the legislature’s 2019 adoption of the Uniform Guardianship, Conservatorship, and Other Protective Arrangements Act (“UGCOPAA” or the colloquial “UGA”) in the form of Senate Bill 5604, as amended during the 2020 Legislative Session by Senate Bill 6287.  The UGA is codified at RCW 11.130.  The UGA becomes effective in stages, with provisions governing minor guardianship effective January 1, 2021.  The provisions of the UGA that become effective January 1, 2022, include those affecting adult guardianships, and conservatorships and protective arrangements applicable to both adults and minors.  Washington’s Title 11 guardianship laws are currently covered in Chapters 11.88 and 11.92. Chapters 11.88 and 11.92 will be repealed in full as of January 1, 2022.

Of significance, the UGA repeals RCW 26.10, the nonparent custody statute, as of January 1, 2021.  GR 22 revisions require expedited review due to the impending effective date of minor guardianship provisions under the UGA and repeal of nonparent custody.

Suggested changes with respect to Personal Identifiers protection.  With the repeal of RCW 26.10, the volume of minor guardianship cases under Title 11 is expected to greatly increase.  The UGA states that the “Letters of Office” are the record issued by the court that certifies a guardian’s authority to act.  See RCW 11.130.010 (16).  Pursuant to the terms of the UGA, the authority to act must expire on the minor’s attainment of majority.  See RCW 11.130.215 (7)  “(7) An order granting guardianship for a minor must direct the clerk of the court to issue letters of office to the guardian containing an expiration date which should be the minor's eighteenth birthday.”

A minor’s birthdate is a personal identifier entitled to protection under state law.  The suggested changes to GR 22 provide a mechanism to seal the Letters of Office to maintain the confidentiality of this information.

Other technical changes.  Other technical changes involve amendments to statutory references and to guardianship nomenclature contained in statute.

The definition of “guardianship case” to include all actions under RCW 11.130, including actions for conservatorships and other protective arrangements in addition to guardianship actions, means all three case types will be covered by revised GR 22.

Other nomenclature related suggested changes include:

a)    Persons subject to guardianship, conservatorship or other protective arrangement proceedings are “respondents” under the UGA.

b)    Persons subject to guardianship or conservatorship are an “individual subject to guardianship” or an “individual subject to conservatorship”.  Persons subject to a protective arrangement are not separately defined under the UGA.

c)    “Court visitor” and “Visitor” are new statutory terms that encompass investigation and reporting to the court on various issues as delineated in statute.  Under the statute, a “visitor” is defined as “a court visitor”.  Therefore the terms can be used interchangeably, and both terms are used in statute. 

The role of the court visitor is in lieu of the guardian ad litem in most proceedings, but does not replace the role of a guardian ad litem in guardianships in its entirety.

(D) Hearing: None requested.

(E) Expedited Consideration: Requested. The UGCOPAA (aka UGA) has an effective date of January 1, 2021 with respect to minor guardianship.