(a) A conservator appointed under this chapter may be discharged or have its duties modified if the court determines that the respondent is no longer a person with a disability, or that it is in the best interests of the person with a disability that the conservatorship be terminated, or that the conservator has failed to perform its duties and obligations in accordance with the law, or that the conservator has failed to act in the best interest of the person with a disability so as to warrant modification or termination. The person with a disability or any interested person on the behalf of the person with a disability may petition the court at any time for a termination or modification order under this section.
Terms Used In Tennessee Code 34-3-108
Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
Conservatorship: is a proceeding in which a court removes the decision-making powers and duties, in whole or in part, in a least restrictive manner, from a person with a disability who lacks capacity to make decisions in one or more important areas and places responsibility for one or more of those decisions in a conservator or co-conservators. See Tennessee Code 34-1-101
Court: means any court having jurisdiction to hear matters concerning guardians or conservators. See Tennessee Code 34-1-101
Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
Person: means any individual, nonhuman entity or governmental agency. See Tennessee Code 34-1-101
Person with a disability: means any person eighteen (18) years of age or older determined by the court to be in need of partial or full supervision, protection, and assistance by reason of mental illness, physical illness or injury, developmental disability, or other mental or physical incapacity. See Tennessee Code 34-1-101
Respondent: means a person who is a minor or is alleged to be a person with a disability for whom a fiduciary is being sought. See Tennessee Code 34-1-101
(b) A petition under subsection (a), if made by the person with a disability, may be communicated to the court by any means including oral communication or informal letter.(c) The court, upon receipt of the petition filed under this section, shall conduct a hearing. At the hearing, the person with a disability has all the rights set out in § 34-3-106. Prior to the holding of the hearing, the court may require that the person with a disability submit to an examination as required by § 34-3-105 to support the person with a disability’s contention that a conservator is no longer needed.(d) Upon conclusion of the hearing, the court shall enter an order setting forth the court’s findings of fact and may do any of the following:
(1) Dismiss the petition;(2) Remove the conservator and dissolve the original order;(3) Remove the conservator and appoint a successor;(4) Modify the original order; or(5) Grant any other relief the court considers appropriate and in the best interest of the person with a disability.(e) When the person with a disability dies or the court earlier determines a conservator is no longer needed and issues an order terminating the conservatorship, the conservatorship shall terminate. If the conservator has responsibility for the property of the person with a disability, within one hundred twenty (120) days after the date the conservatorship terminates, the conservator shall file a preliminary final accounting with the court, which shall account for all assets, receipts, and disbursements from the date of the last accounting until the date the conservatorship terminates, and shall detail the amount of the final distribution to close the conservatorship. If no objections have been filed to the clerk’s report on the preliminary final accounting within thirty (30) days from the date the clerk’s report is filed, the conservator shall distribute the remaining assets. The receipts and final cancelled checks evidencing the final distributions shall be filed with the court by the conservator. When the evidence of the final distribution is filed with the court and on order of the court, the conservatorship proceeding shall be closed.(f) Any person listed in § 34-3-103(1)-(4) may petition the court to require the conservator to grant any of the rights provided in § 34-3-107(a)(2)(P). The prevailing party in a petition under this subsection (f) shall be entitled to court costs and reasonable attorney fees.
