The General Accounting Office, in a report prepared last year for the Senate’s Special Committee on Aging, singled out the Rockingham County Probate Court as one of four courts nationally it considered "exemplary" in providing training for guardians and oversight of guardianships.

The NH court was the smallest of those cited —the other courts were Broward County, Fla.; San Francisco County, Calif., and Tarrant County, Texas. Although only Rockingham County was cited in the report, according to the NH Probate Courts Administrative Office, a total of eight NH probate courts have Guardianship Monitoring Programs utilizing volunteers to provide greater oversight of guardianships of incapacitated persons.

"Each court provides training of guardians, even though training is only required in one of the state’s statutes (Florida). The [exemplary] courts also actively utilize computerized case management, court visitor programs, in-depth review of annual reports, or investigations by court employees to oversee guardianship cases," said the July 2004 GAO report.

Probate Court Administrative Judge John R. Maher developed the guardianship monitoring process used in eight of the state’s probate courts. He is also the presiding judge of the Rockingham County Probate Court.

"Each of the exemplary courts uses at least one means to actively oversee guardianships, and while each will penalize guardians who fail to fulfill their responsibilities, two courts dedicate extra resources to enforcement activities..." the report explains. "The system in Rockingham County automatically notifies court staff when reports are due for each guardianship case. For example, when a guardianship of an estate is established, the system prints a notice to the guardian that an inventory of the incapacitated person’s assets must be submitted to the court within 90 days. If the court has not received the inventory, the system notifies court staff that an inventory default notice is needed. This system also tracks the number of new guardianship cases and the total number of active cases."

For greater oversight, each NH probate court uses the Guardianship Monitoring Program to provide on-site visits with the incapacitated person and guardian to assess the ward’s living situation, finances, health and social activities. Since on-site visits and any research leading up to the visits are done by volunteers, costs are minimal. A court employee who serves as volunteer coordinator monitors the visitors’ work and resulting reports to the courts.

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