In the Matter of Robert Lyles

In In the Matter of Robert Lyles, (250 AD2d 488), the Appellate Division Second Department held that the special guardian cannot receive compensation from the petitioner when the petition for the appointment of a Guardian has been granted and the alleged incapacitated person is indigent because the applicable statute, MHL 81.16 [b], did not provide for same. The court also indicated that the same conclusion would be reached for legal counsel fees for counsel assigned to an indigent incapacitated person where the petition is granted because the statute does not provide for compensation when the incapacitated person is indigent. The Second Department has reasoned that "The legislative silence ... does not create a vacuum inviting judicial creativity." (Id, at 490).