The New Jersey Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Jurisdiction Act was codified under P.L. 2012, Chapter 36, and will appear in the New Jersey statutes at N.J.S.A. 3B:12B-1 to 22. Although approved by the state legislature on Aug. 7, it went into effect on Dec. 5. There was bipartisan support for the act, which was unanimously approved by both houses of the legislature. The act is based on the Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Jurisdiction Act (UAGPPJA). The purpose of the law is to eliminate jurisdictional issues when families in different states feud over guardianship.
Because guardianship is a creature of state law, the laws governing guardianships in different states may result in courts in those states concluding that they have jurisdiction over the same alleged incapacitated person, leading to conflicts among states in addition to conflicts among family members. This is because some states, like New Jersey, base guardianship jurisdiction on domicile, while others base jurisdiction on residence or physical presence in the state. The three most common interstate guardianship issues are: 1) the exercise of jurisdiction over a guardianship matter by two or more states; 2) the acceptance of a guardianship in another state; and 3) the transfer of guardianships to and from other states. While family conflicts over relatives with diminished capacity are nothing new, in our increasingly mobile society it has become more common for family members engaged in such disputes to move relatives with diminished capacity across state lines. This often is referred to as “granny snatching.”
