Florida Senate adopts several elder care bills

Bill 0080 — Relating to Family Trust Companies

• This bill revises the Family Trust Company Act to require that all family trust companies apply as a licensed family trust company, register as a foreign licensed family trust company, or stop doing business by December 30, 2016 in the state of Florida.
• It also requires the family trust company to have at least three directors/managers, with at least one of those directors/managers being a resident of Florida.

Bill 0232 — Relating to Guardianship

• The passing of this bill renames and expands the Statewide Public Guardianship Office to the Office of Public and Professional Guardians, giving it the responsibility of the administrative duty of writing the rules for the regulation of professional guardians.
• The bill establishes stricter regulations of professional guardians, who previously have not been closely supervised by the state

Bill 0494 — Relating to Digital Assets

• Dubbed the “Florida Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act,” this bill allows fiduciaries to manage and control digital assets the same way they manage tangible assets.
• This bill also grants custodians of digital assets the right to interact with the fiduciaries in order to honor the fiduciaries’ requests
• Lastly, Bill 0494 allows for courts to authorize a guardian the right to access the digital assets of a ward, if the circumstances permit

Bill 1335 — Relating to Long-term Care Managed Care Prioritization

• This bill not only requires the Department of Elderly Affairs to keep a wait list for the enrollment for community-based services, but also requires the DEA to prioritize individuals through a frailty-based screening tool.

These bills took effect July 1, 2016.