ESTATE PLANNING COUNCIL OF CENTRAL NEW YORK

Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act §17-A and Supported Decision-Making as an alternative to Guardianship

Program Description

The program will examine guardianship for persons with developmental disabilities, Art. 17A of the Surrogate’s Court procedure Act,  and the use of supported decision-making, Art. 82 of the Mental Hygiene Law aa an alternative to guardianship.  

Rose Mary Bailly - Oversees the Institute for Aging and Disabilities Law at the Government Law Center at Albany Law School.  She is also an Adjunct Professor of Law at Albany Law School.  She is the author of Thomson West’s Practice Commentaries to the New York’s guardianship statute, Article 81, New York Mental Hygiene Law, and co-author with William Davies, Esq. of New York’s power of attorney statute,  Article 5, title 15 of the New York General Obligations Law.  She is the co-author of Financial Exploitation of the Elderly (Civic research Institute 2007). She has also authored numerous articles on guardianship law, powers of attorney, and elder abuse.  Ms. Bailly served as Executive Director and as a staff attorney for the New York State Law Revision Commission and worked as an attorney in the private sector. Ms. Bailly is a Fellow of the Brookdale Center on Aging of Hunter College, a member of the American Bar Association, Real Property and Probate Section, and a member of the New York State Bar Association Elder Law & Special Needs Section, and Disability Rights Committee.  A graduate of Fordham University School of Law, she served as a Commentary Editor for the Fordham Law Review.

Sheila Shae - Director of the Mental Hygiene Legal Service, Third Judicial Department. Ms. Shea was appointed to the Service in 1987 and has served as its Director since 2007. She is a 1981 graduate of the University of Vermont and a 1986 graduate of the Albany Law School of Union University.

Ms. Shea is the recipient of the 2013 Hodgson/Jacobs Law Award presented by The Arc of New York for demonstrating outstanding commitment and dedication to improving the lives of people who have intellectual and other developmental disabilities; the 2014 Cerebral Palsy Associations of New York Public Service Award;  a 2017 Office of Mental Health, What's Great in Our State- A Celebration of Children's Mental Health Awareness honoree, a 2021 recipient of a Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs Champion Award and the 2022 Bernard Carabello Award presented by the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) Committee on Disability Rights. In October of this year, Ms. Shea will be presented with the NYSBA Criminal Justice Section Michele S. Maxian Award for Outstanding Public Defense Practioner.

Ms. Shea currently serves on the Supported Decision-Making New York Advisory Council, the Albany Law School, Government Law Center, Board of Advisors/ Aging and Disability Committee and was recently appointed as the Co-Chair of the NYSBA Task Force on Mental Health and Trauma Impacted Representation.

Zoom details:

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https://cnycf-org.zoom.us/j/96213148428?pwd=cnBBQmRIdmsxS2trQXhiVTRBNmgxZz09

Meeting ID: 962 1314 8428

Passcode: 107613