Opinion
A22A0443
05-04-2022
IN RE MARIANNE CARLISLE THOMASSON.
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
In September 2021, the probate court appointed a guardian and a conservator for Marianne Carlisle Thomasson based on the court's conclusion that she lacked sufficient capacity to make or communicate significant responsible decisions regarding her health, safety, or the management of her property. Thomasson filed a timely appeal from the probate court's order. Counsel for Thomasson has now filed a suggestion of death, which indicates that Thomasson died in December 2021.
Following Thomasson's death, the controversy over the appointment of a guardian and a conservator no longer exists. See OCGA § 29-4-42 (e) (The death of the ward automatically terminates the guardianship of an incapacitated person for all purposes except the final accounting of the guardian of the property); OCGA § 29-5-72 (e) ("The death of the ward automatically terminates the conservatorship except for purposes of the final settlement of the petition for letters of discharge"). Thus, the questions presented have become moot. See Chastain v. Baker, 178 Ga.App. 649, 650 (344 S.E.2d 472) (1986) (death of proposed ward renders moot the controversy over the appointment of a guardian of her person and property). Although issues may be determined not to be moot even in the absence of a live controversy between the parties, this case contains no such issues. See McAlister v. Clifton, __ Ga. __ (1) (Case No. S22A0144; decided April 19, 2022) ("[W]hen a case contains an issue that is capable of repetition yet evades review, the issue is not moot 'because a decision in such a case would be based on existing facts or rights which affect, if not the immediate parties, an existing class of sufferers.'"), quoting Collins v. Lombard Corp., 270 Ga. 120, 122 (1) (508 S.E.2d 653) (1998). Accordingly, the appeal must be dismissed. See Chastain, 178 Ga.App. at 650 (dismissal of an appeal is mandatory where questions presented have become moot); OCGA § 5-6-48 (b) (3).