ARTICLE 14 PERSONS UNDER DISABILITY PROTECTION
| Jurisdiction | Colorado |
Editor's note: (1) Articles 10 to 17 of this title were repealed and reenacted in 1973, and parts 1 to 4 of this article were subsequently repealed and reenacted in 2000, resulting in the addition, relocation, and elimination of sections as well as subject matter. For amendments to parts 1 to 4 of this article prior to 2000, consult the Colorado statutory research explanatory note and the table itemizing the replacement volumes and supplements to the original volume of C.R.S. 1973 beginning on page vii in the front of this volume and the editor's note immediately preceding article 10 of this title. Former C.R.S. section numbers prior to 2000 are shown in editor's notes following those sections that were relocated.
(2) Section 15-17-103, as enacted by House Bill 01-1377, modified the applicability of parts 1 to 4. (See L. 2001, p. 889.)
15-14-101. Short title.
15-14-102. Definitions.
15-14-103. (Reserved)
15-14-104. Facility of transfer.
15-14-105. Delegation of power by parent or guardian.
15-14-106. Subject-matter jurisdiction.
15-14-107. Transfer of jurisdiction.
15-14-108. Venue.
15-14-109. Practice in court - consolidation of proceedings.
15-14-110. Letters of office.
15-14-111. Effect of acceptance of appointment.
15-14-112. Termination of or change in guardian's or conservator's appointment.
15-14-113. Notice.
15-14-113.5. Appointments without notice - investigation - report -procedures.
15-14-114. Waiver of notice.
15-14-115. Guardian ad litem.
15-14-116. Request for notice - interested persons.
15-14-117. Multiple appointments or nominations.
15-14-118. Small estate - person under disability - no personal representative.
15-14-119. Notice to public institutions on appointment of guardian or conservator.
15-14-120. Uniform veterans' guardianship act not affected.
15-14-121. Uniformity of application and construction.
15-14-122. Severability clause.
15-14-201. Appointment and status of guardian.
15-14-202. Testamentary appointment of guardian - appointment by written instrument.
15-14-203. Objection of others to parental appointment - consent by minor of twelve years of age or older to appointment of guardian.
15-14-204. Judicial appointment of guardian - conditions for appointment - definition.
15-14-205. Judicial appointment of guardian - procedure.
15-14-206. Judicial appointment of guardian - priority of minor's nominee - limited guardianship.
15-14-207. Duties of guardian.
15-14-208. Powers of guardian.
15-14-209. Rights and immunities of a guardian.
15-14-210. Termination of guardianship - other proceedings after appointment.
15-14-315.5. Dissolution of marriage and legal separation.
15-14-425.5. Authority to petition for dissolution of marriage or legal separation.
Editor's note: Section 15-17-103 provides that parts 1 to 4 of this article, as repealed and reenacted effective January 1, 2001, apply to any and all estates, trusts, or protective proceedings whether created or filed prior to or on or after January 1, 2001.
Law reviews: For article, "Adult Guardianships and Conservatorships: Protection of Constitutional Rights", see 15 Colo. Law. 820 (1986); for article, "Mental Competence and Legal Capacity Under Colorado Law: A Question of Consistency", see 19 Colo. Law. 1813 (1990); for article, "Protecting a Disabled Client in a Dissolution of Marriage Action", see 24 Colo. Law. 795 (1995); for article, "Highlights of Colorado's New Guardianship and Conservatorship Laws", see 30 Colo. Law. 5 (Jan. 2001); for article, "Personal Injury and Workers' Compensation Settlements for Incapacitated Persons: Part I", see 30 Colo. Law. 43 (Jan. 2001); for article, "Personal Injury and Workers' Compensation Settlements for Incapacitated Persons: Part II", see 30 Colo. Law. 56 (Feb. 2001); for article, "Examination of Selected Provisions of Colorado's Uniform Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Act", see 31 Colo. Law. 71 (Sept. 2002); for article, "Crisis Intervention to Prevent Elder Abuse: Emergency Guardianships and Other Legal Procedures" see 33 Colo. Law. 91 (July 2004); for article, "The Basics on Juveniles in Probate Court for Protective Proceedings", see 36 Colo. Law. 15 (Feb. 2007); for article, "Practical Solutions to Elder Financial Abuse and Fiduciary Theft", see 41 Colo. Law. 61 (Dec. 2012).
■ 15-14-101. Short title. Parts 1 to 4 of this article may be cited as the "Colorado Uniform Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Act".
Source: L. 2000: Entire part R&RE, p. 1778, § 1, effective January 1, 2001 (see § 15-17-103).
The trial court has a broad discretion in all matters relating to protected persons, which is exclusive. Sweeney v. Summers, 194 Colo. 149, 571 P.2d 1067 (1977) (decided prior to 2000 repeal and reenactment).
This section does not create an exception for a "protected person" within the definition of "incapacitated person". A person who is an "incapacitated person" under this section, and thus ineligible to elect to receive a lump sum damage award payment under § 13-64-205 (1)(f) of the Health Care Availability Act, is not entitled to such election merely because the incapacitated person also is a "protected person". Rather, this section and the sections that follow, when read as a whole, provide that protected persons are necessarily incapacitated for purposes of § 13-64-205 (1)(f). Rodriguez ex rel. Rodriguez v. Healthone, 24 P.3d 9 (Colo. App. 2000), rev'd on other grounds, 50 P.3d 879 (Colo. 2002).
■ 15-14-102. Definitions. In parts 1 to 4 of this article 14:
(1) "Claim", with respect to a protected person, includes a claim against an individual, whether arising in contract, tort, or otherwise, and a claim against an estate which arises at or after the appointment of a conservator, including expenses of administration.
(2) "Conservator" means a person at least twenty-one years of age, resident or non-resident, who is appointed by a court to manage the estate of a protected person. The term includes a limited conservator.
(3) "Court" means the court or division thereof having jurisdiction in matters relating to the affairs of decedents and protected persons. This court is the district court, except in the city and county of Denver where it is the probate court.
(4) "Guardian" means an individual at least twenty-one years of age, resident or non-resident, who has qualified as a guardian of a minor or incapacitated person pursuant to appointment by a parent or by the court. The term includes a limited, emergency, and temporary substitute guardian but not a guardian ad litem.
(5) "Incapacitated person" means an individual other than a minor, who is unable to effectively receive or evaluate information or both or make or communicate decisions to such an extent that the individual lacks the ability to satisfy essential requirements for physical health, safety, or self-care, even with appropriate and reasonably available technological assistance.
(6) "Legal representative" includes a representative payee, a guardian or conservator acting for a respondent in this state or elsewhere, a trustee or custodian of a trust or custodianship of which the respondent is a beneficiary, or an agent designated under a power of attorney, whether for health care or property, in which the respondent is identified as the principal.
(7) "Letters" includes letters of guardianship or letters of conservatorship.
(7.5) "Member of the supportive community" means a person whom the respondent, ward, or protected person has trusted for the one-year period immediately preceding the filing of a petition pursuant to section 15-14-304 or 15-14-403 to engage in supported decision-making and who may have relevant information about the respondent's, ward's, or protected person's desires and personal values.
(8) "Minor" means an unemancipated individual who has not attained eighteen years of age; except that in proceedings pursuant to section 15-14-204 (2.5) only, "minor" means an unmarried individual who has not attained twenty-one years of age.
(9) "Parent" means a parent whose parental rights have not been terminated.
(10) "Person" means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, government, governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity.
(10.5) "Post-adjudication" means after appointment of a permanent guardian or special or permanent conservator after a hearing for which a respondent was provided notice pursuant to section 15-14-309 or section 15-14-404, or both, and at which the respondent had an opportunity to present evidence and be heard.
(11) "Protected person" means a minor or other individual for whom a conservator has been appointed or other protective order has been made.
(12) "Respondent" means an individual for whom the appointment of a guardian or conservator or other protective order is sought.
(13) "State" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
(13.5) "Supported decision-making" means the way an adult with a disability or diminished capacity has made or is making his or her own decisions by using friends, family members, professionals, and other people he or she trusts to:
(a) Help understand the issues and choices;
(b) Ask questions;
(c) Receive explanations in language he or she understands;
(d) Communicate his or her decisions to others if necessary; or
(e) Facilitate the exercise of decisions regarding his or her day-to-day health, safety, welfare, or financial affairs.
(14) "Tribe" means an Indian tribe or band, or Alaskan Native village, which is recognized by federal law or formally...
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