AB460 - Revises provisions relating to child welfare. (BDR 13-1060)

- 83rd Session (2025) Assembly Bill No. 460–Assemblymember González Joint Sponsor: Senator Doñate CHAPTER.......... AN ACT relating to child welfare; establishing a form by which a parent or guardian may request to nominate a guardian of a minor; authorizing the filing of such a form in the Nevada Lockbox; removing the authority of the Secretary of State to charge and collect a fee for filing a form in the Nevada Lockbox; creating a presumption that temporary guardianship is in the best interest of a minor in certain circumstances; and providing other matters properly relating thereto. Legislative Counsel’s Digest: Existing law authorizes any person requesting to nominate another person to be appointed as his or her guardian to complete a form requesting to nominate a guardian. (NRS 159.0753) Existing law also authorizes the Secretary of State to establish and maintain the Nevada Lockbox, which is an electronic registry where a person may register a form requesting to nominate a guardian, among other documents. (NRS 225.360) Section 1 of this bill authorizes a parent or guardian of a minor who wishes to request to nominate another person to be appointed as the guardian for the minor to complete a form requesting to nominate a guardian of the minor. Section 1 clarifies that a person nominated to be a guardian of a minor is required to obtain appointment from a court before exercising the power of a guardian. Section 3 of this bill requires a court to consider a form requesting to nominate a guardian of a minor in determining which person is most suitable to be the guardian for the minor. Section 4 of this bill includes a form requesting to nominate a guardian of a minor in the list of documents that may be submitted for inclusion in the Nevada Lockbox. Sections 4.5 and 5.5 of this bill remove the authority of the Secretary of State to charge and collect a fee for the registration of a will or other document in the Nevada Lockbox. Section 5 of this bill authorizes the Secretary of State to provide access to the lockbox when required by a court, hospital, law enforcement agency or other entity that needs to determine whether a person has designated a guardian for a minor. Section 7 of this bill makes a conforming change to indicate the proper placement of section 1 in the Nevada Revised Statutes. Existing law establishes a procedure by which a petitioner may request the appointment of a temporary guardian for the person or estate, or both, of a proposed protected minor in circumstances where it is not feasible or would be harmful to notify the persons and entities who are normally entitled to notice of a guardianship hearing. Existing law presumes that temporary guardianship is in the best interest of the minor if no parent has had the care, custody and control of the minor for the immediately preceding 6 months. (NRS 159A.053) Section 2 of this bill creates an additional presumption that a temporary guardianship is in the best interest of the proposed protected minor during a period of time in which no parent has the care, custody and control of the minor due to one or both parents being separated from the minor due to a federal immigration order. – 2 – - 83rd Session (2025) EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. Chapter 159A of NRS is hereby amended by adding thereto a new section to read as follows: 1. Any parent or guardian of a minor who wishes to request to nominate another person to be appointed as the guardian for the minor may do so by completing a form requesting to nominate a guardian of a minor in accordance with this section. 2. A form requesting to nominate a guardian of a minor pursuant to this section must be: (a) Signed by the parent or guardian who is executing the form; (b) Signed by two impartial adult witnesses who have no interest, financial or otherwise, in the estate of the minor or the parent or guardian of the minor and who attest that the parent or guardian has the mental capacity to understand and execute the form; and (c) Notarized. 3. A nomination of a guardian of a minor made pursuant to this section may be in substantially the following form, and must be witnessed and executed in the same manner as the following form: REQUEST TO NOMINATE GUARDIAN OF A MINOR I, .................... (insert your name), residing at ................... (insert your address), am executing this notarized document as my written declaration and request for the person(s) designated below to be appointed as guardian for my child should it become necessary. I am advising the court and all persons and entities as follows: 1. As of the date I am executing this request to nominate a guardian for my child, I have the mental capacity to understand and execute this request. 2. This request pertains to a (circle one): (guardian of the minor)/(guardian of the estate of the minor)/(guardian of the minor and estate). 3. Should the need arise, I request that the court give my preference to the person(s) designated below to serve as the appointed guardian for my child. – 3 – - 83rd Session (2025) 4. I request that my .................... (insert relation), .................... (insert name), serve as appointed guardian of my child. 5. If .................... (insert name) is unable or unwilling to serve as my appointed guardian, then I request that my .................... (insert relation), .................... (insert name), serve as appointed guardian of my child. 6. I do not, under any circumstances, desire to have any private, for-profit guardian serve as appointed guardian of my child. (YOU MUST DATE AND SIGN THIS DOCUMENT) I sign my name to this document on ................. (date) .......................................................................................... (Signature) (YOU MUST HAVE TWO QUALIFIED ADULT WITNESSES DATE AND SIGN THIS DOCUMENT) I declare under penalty of perjury that the principal is personally known to me, that the principal signed this request to nominate a guardian of a minor in my presence, that the principal appears to be of sound mind, has the mental capacity to understand and execute this document and is under no duress, fraud or undue influence, and that I have no interest, financial or otherwise, in the estate of the principal or minor. ...................................................................... (Signature of first witness) ...................................................................... (Print name) ...................................................................... (Date) ...................................................................... (Signature of second witness) ...................................................................... (Print name) ...................................................................... (Date) – 4 – - 83rd Session (2025) CERTIFICATE OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF NOTARY PUBLIC State of Nevada } } County of ....................................... } On this .......... day of ..............., in the year ......., before me, .................... (insert name of notary public), personally appeared .................... (insert name of principal), .................... (insert name of first witness) and .................... (insert name of second witness), personally known to me (or proved to me on the basis of satisfactory evidence) to be the persons whose names are subscribed to this instrument, and acknowledged that they have signed this instrument. ...................................................................... (Signature of notarial officer) (Seal, if any) 4. The Secretary of State shall make the form established in subsection 3 available on the Internet website of the Secretary of State. 5. The person nominated for appointment as the guardian of a minor pursuant to this section must file a petition and obtain an appointment from the court before exercising the powers of a guardian. 6. The Secretary of State may adopt any regulations necessary to carry out the provisions of this section. Sec. 2. NRS 159A.053 is hereby amended to read as follows: 159A.053 1. A petitioner may request that the court appoint a temporary guardian for the person or the estate, or both, of a proposed protected minor by filing a verified petition. 2. The petition must state facts which establish good cause for the appointment of a temporary guardian and which show that: (a) The petitioner has tried in good faith to notify the persons entitled to notice pursuant to NRS 159A.047 by telephone or in writing before the filing of the petition; (b) The proposed protected minor would be exposed to an immediate risk of physical, emotional or financial harm if the petitioner were to provide notice to the persons entitled to notice pursuant to NRS 159A.047 before the court determines whether to appoint a temporary guardian; or – 5 – - 83rd Session (2025) (c) Giving notice to the persons entitled to notice pursuant to NRS 159A.047 is not feasible under the circumstances. 3. A petition which seeks an ex parte appointment of a temporary guardian must be accompanied by an affidavit which explains the emergency that requires a temporary guardian to be appointed before a hearing. 4. [If no parent of the proposed protected minor has had the care, custody and control of the minor for the 6 months immediately preceding the petition, temporary] Temporary guardianship of the person of [the] a proposed protected minor is presumed to be in the best interest of the minor [.] : (a) If no parent of the minor has had the care, custody and control of the minor for the 6 months immediately preceding the petition; or (b) During a period of time in which no parent has the care, custody and control of the minor because one or both parents are separated from the minor due to a federal immigration order. 5. The court may, upon that petition or other showing as it may require, appoint a temporary guardian of the person or the estate, or both, of the proposed protected minor. 6. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 7, after the appointment of a temporary guardian, the petitioner shall attempt in good faith to notify the persons entitled to notice pursuant to NRS 159A.047, including, without limitation, notice of any hearing to extend the temporary guardianship. If the petitioner fails to make such an effort, the court may terminate the temporary guardianship. 7. If, before the appointment of a temporary guardian, the court was satisfied that giving notice to the persons entitled to notice pursuant to NRS 159A.047 was not feasible under the circumstances or determined that such notice was not required pursuant to paragraph (b) or (c) of subsection 2, the petitioner shall notify the persons entitled to notice pursuant to NRS 159A.047 without undue delay, but not later than 48 hours after the appointment of the temporary guardian or not later than 48 hours after the petitioner discovers the existence, identity and location of the persons entitled to notice pursuant to that section. If the petitioner fails to provide such notice, the court may terminate the temporary guardianship. 8. Not later than 10 days after the date of an ex parte appointment of a temporary guardian pursuant to subsection 5, the court shall hold a hearing to determine the need to extend the temporary guardianship. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 9, if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the protected minor continues to be in need of a temporary guardian, the – 6 – - 83rd Session (2025) court may, pursuant to subsection 10, extend the temporary guardianship until a general guardian is appointed. 9. The court may not extend a temporary guardianship pursuant to subsection 8 beyond the initial period of 10 days unless the petitioner demonstrates that: (a) The provisions of NRS 159A.0475 have been satisfied; or (b) Notice by publication pursuant to the Nevada Rules of Civil Procedure is currently being undertaken. 10. The court may extend the temporary guardianship, for good cause shown, for not more than two successive 60-day periods, unless extraordinary circumstances necessitate a longer duration for the temporary guardianship. 11. If for any reason a guardian who is appointed for a protected minor cannot perform the duties of a guardian, the court may, upon a petition filed to request temporary guardianship for the minor, appoint a temporary guardian to exercise the powers of a guardian until another guardian is appointed for the minor. Sec. 3. NRS 159A.061 is hereby amended to read as follows: 159A.061 1. The parents of a proposed protected minor, or either parent, if qualified and suitable, are preferred over all others for appointment as guardian for the person or estate or person and estate of the proposed protected minor. The appointment of a parent as guardian for the person or estate of a proposed protected minor must not conflict with a valid order for custody of the proposed protected minor. 2. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 4, if a parent of a proposed protected minor files a petition seeking appointment as guardian for the proposed protected minor, the parent is presumed to be suitable to serve as guardian for the proposed protected minor. 3. In determining whether the parents of a proposed protected minor, or either parent, or any other person who seeks appointment as guardian for the proposed protected minor is qualified and suitable, the court shall consider, if applicable and without limitation: (a) Which parent has physical custody of the proposed protected minor; (b) The ability of the parents, parent or other person to provide for the basic needs of the proposed protected minor, including, without limitation, food, shelter, clothing and medical care, taking into consideration any special needs of the proposed protected minor; (c) Whether the parents, parent or other person has engaged in the habitual use of alcohol or any controlled substance during the – 7 – - 83rd Session (2025) previous 6 months, except the use of cannabis in accordance with the provisions of chapter 678C of NRS; (d) Whether the parents, parent or other person has been convicted of a crime of moral turpitude, a crime involving domestic violence or a crime involving the abuse [Text truncated for display. 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