Elder Justice Center
Tools for Guardians

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Electronic Order Delivery Pilot Project
The Guardianship Court has initiated a pilot project to deliver copies of its orders on guardianship reports (inventories, plans and accountings) to attorneys in those cases and professional guardians, when applicable.  The project is designed to conserve resources, such as paper and postage, and to expedite the delivery of the orders on those guardianship reports.    (read more) 

If you are an attorney in a Hillsborough County guardianship case or a professional guardian in this Circuit and you are interested in participating in this pilot project, you will need to submit an Electronic Delivery Consent Form to the Court.   Copies of that form have been distributed with all paper copies of the orders on guardianship reports distributed by mail in the past couple of months.  If you have already completed and submitted one of those, you do not need to do anything further.  (Start date:  Early September 2009)

Attorneys of record in guardianship cases may obtain the consent form by contacting the Elder Justice Center, via e-mail, at elder@fljud13.orgor downloading it from link below.  The form is case-number-specific, as a copy of the form will be filed on the non-legal side of the applicable guardianship court file.  If the attorney wishes to consent to delivery in this manner on all of his or her guardianship cases, one form may be utilized, with an attachment that provides a list of all of the guardianship case names and numbers.     

Professional guardians who have not already received a consent form, may obtain the appropriate version of the form (which is not the same as the one for attorneys)  from the Elder Justice Center, in person or via e-mail to elder@fljud13.org or by calling the office at (813)276-2726.  

Electronic Delivery Consent Form


EJC Guardianship Report Review Forms ( Completed by the Court’s Elder Justice Center staff, after review of initial and annual guardianship reports, and then forwarded to the guardianship judge for consideration, along with the Clerk’s Audits and the court files, before the judge enters orders on those reports.)
• EJC Review of Initial Guardianship Report
• EJC Review of Annual Guardianship Report
• EJC Review of Annual Report - Minor Guardianship

Simplified Annual Plan If you have received a court order that authorizes you to use a Simplified Plan form, you must use the following, current version of the forms.
• For Guardians Advocate (appointed for a developmentally disabled person under Florida Statutes Ch. 393) [WORD] [PDF]
• For Guardians of the Person (appointed for an incapacitated person under Florida Statutes Ch. 744) [WORD] [PDF]

EJC Guardian Fee Petition Checklist (Completed by the Court’s Elder Justice Center staff when reviewing guardian fee petitions for the judge.  The form summarizes information contained in the petitions and in the court files.  The completed document is forwarded to the judge for consideration, before the judge enters a preliminary fee order.  If only a portion of the fees requested can be approved without a hearing, an order is entered authorizing the guardian to immediately make payment of that initially approved amount, and a hearing is scheduled to address the rest of the fees requested.)

Guardianship Handbook & click here for Updates

Older Floridians Handbook

Guardian's Request to Remove Confidential Information -
Guardians who wish to remove confidential information from information previously filed with the Clerk's Office may do so by using a request form available online on the Clerk of Court's website www.hillsclerk.com. To access the form go to www.hillsclerk.com under "Online Forms", then "Probate", then "Removal of Confidential Information" (right underneath Probate). The form may be completed online but not submitted online. A hard copy must be submitted either in person at the Office of the Clerk of Court's Probate/Guardianship Division, Room 206, Second Floor, 800 E. Twiggs Street, Tampa, Florida or mailed to Clerk of the Circuit Court, Attn: Probate/Guardianship, P.O. Box 1110, Tampa, FL 33601. If you have questions about the form or need assistance, please contact Gena Friscia, Manger of Probate, at (813)276-8100, ext. 4360.

Death of Ward
Within 30 days after the death of the ward, the guardian will file a notice of death.  A certified copy of the ward’s death certificate must be applied for within 15 days of the ward’s death and filed immediately upon receipt.   

The guardian of the property must file a final report in compliance with section 744.527, Florida Statutes, and Florida Probate Rule 5.680, unless waived in writing by all necessary interested persons, and petition for discharge, unless extended by court order.  Any objections to the final accounting or discharge are required to be filed in accordance with Florida Probate Rule 5.680.