The Promise of Technology

While many state courts are unable to properly monitor and document guardianships, a number of individual courts are advancing the field by applying technology to these case types.  Generally, software applications can be used to enhance the court’s responsibilities in overseeing the guardianship process and to identify guardian activities that appear to be out of the norm.   At its basic level, software can be used to create a “tickler” system that primarily reminds the court and notifies guardians of due dates of particular reports, such as annual accountings.  At a higher level, financial-based software can be used to detect anomalies in guardianships of the estate, or conservatorships.  Several examples showcase how technology can improve the guardianship process and court oversight.

Guardianship Reporting Software

Florida’s 17th Judicial Circuit (Broward Country) uses guardianship reporting software that includes inventory, plan, and accounting forms.  The goal of the software is to reduce paper logistics, offload costly data entry, and reduce errors and redundancy.  The court is developing a probate and guardianship database management system to work in conjunction with the e-filing system.  The software promises judges and court staff flexibility in searching particular items and running reports.  The reporting capacity is particularly intriguing.  For example, reports could be run on cases where the visitation of the ward was not completed once per quarter or on cases where income increased or decreased by a specific percentage when compared to the prior accounting.

Online Accounting Software

In 2010, the Minnesota Judicial Branch launched the Conservator Account Monitoring Preparation and Electronic Reporting (CAMPER) System  The program has the following benefits:

As the database becomes populated, experts will be able to develop programs that “flag” cases for follow-up and/or investigation.  For instance, there may be a sudden increase or decrease in funds being withdrawn from financial institutions. 
 
The increasing availability and utilization of technology can make the courts more efficient and improve accountability.  Current software applications make court monitoring of conservatorships and the detection of financial abuse and exploitation more manageable, but are less applicable to guardianship cases that require an examination of the person’s well-being.  The adoption of these types of systems by an increasing number of state court systems can go a long way toward the provision of accurate data that can be used to document problems and improve current monitoring practices.

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