BOTSFORD, J.

The subject of the present appeal is an order issued by a judge in the Probate and Family Court (Probate Court), authorizing the involuntary administration of antipsychotic medication (substituted judgment treatment order1) to a mentally ill woman under guardianship, whom we shall call Erma. The order was issued in February, 2009, and has expired; for that and additional reasons, this appeal is moot. However, we discuss one issue that is likely to recur concerning the notice requirements applicable to motions seeking substituted judgment treatment orders.

Background. Erma is a woman approximately fifty years old. She has been diagnosed with a mental illness that severely impairs thought processes and the ability to recognize reality. She has a long history of refusing antipsychotic medications, and has been hospitalized in connection with her mental illness approximately thirty-two times since 1991. The present guardianship proceeding was commenced in 2002, and in 2003, Erma's husband was appointed as her permanent guardian pursuant to G. L. c. 201, § 6. He continues to serve in that capacity.

Between 2003 and 2006, several substituted judgment treatment orders and accompanying treatment plans have been issued by Probate Court judges.2 One such order was issued on February 23, 2006, and provided for an annual review (to be held February 23, 2007). But in November, 2006, Erma was hospitalized for a serious leg injury she sustained in an automobile accident. She was transferred to the hospital's psychiatric unit, and thereafter, a judge in the District Court ordered Erma to be committed to a facility3 pursuant to G. L. c. 123, §§ 7 and 8, and further ordered that she be treated with antipsychotic medication under G. L. c. 123, § 8B. In May of 2007, Erma was transferred to a State hospital; the District Court orders just described remained in effect. It appears that in light of these events, the review in the present case of the February, 2006, substituted judgment treatment order that was scheduled for February 23, 2007, did not take place, and the order lapsed.

On February 2, 2009, Erma was discharged from the State hospital, after a District Court judge denied a petition filed by the Department of Mental Health (department) to continue her commitment. Meanwhile, in this case, the department served on the parties a motion to intervene and a separate motion to "reinstate" the previous substituted judgment treatment order and to "update" the treatment plan. On February 13, 2009, a Probate Court judge held a hearing on the two motions. Erma and her counsel attended the hearing, as did her guardian. At the hearing, the department filed a clinician's affidavit addressing Erma's competency and a proposed treatment plan (clinician's affidavit), and a medical certificate, both completed by a psychiatric nurse practitioner who had been treating Erma at the State hospital since January, 2008. The proposed treatment plan included two provisions for treatment with injectable antipsychotic medication. Erma objected to both of the department's motions, asserting she was taking oral antipsychotic medication while in the community, and objecting in particular to treatment with injectable antipsychotic medication.

On February 17, 2009, the Probate Court judge issued the substituted judgment treatment order that is at issue before us. The order approved the department's treatment plan authorizing injection of antipsychotic medication and set a review date and alternative expiration date of April 17, 2010. Erma thereafter filed a motion for reconsideration of the order and treatment plan, which was denied. She filed a timely appeal from the substituted judgment treatment order in the Appeals Court, and we transferred the case to this court on our own motion.4

Discussion. 1. Mootness. The substituted judgment treatment order challenged by Erma had a review and termination date of April 17, 2010. It was not reviewed in April of 2010, and accordingly, it expired on the termination date. The order's termination moots this appeal, and the mootness is underscored by two other events. First, in the time since this appeal was filed, Erma has been the subject of separate commitment proceedings in the District Court under G. L. c. 123, §§ 7 and 8, and in connection with those proceedings, an order authorizing treatment with antipsychotic medication under G. L. c. 123, § 8B, is currently in effect.5 Second, on July 1, 2009, provisions of the Uniform Probate Code (UPC) governing guardianship of incapacitated persons went into effect, see G. L. c. 190B, art. 5, §§ 5-301 et seq., inserted by St. 2008, c. 521, §§ 9, 44; the statute under which the challenged substituted judgment treatment order was issued, G. L. c. 201, § 6, was repealed as of that date. See St. 2008, c. 521, § 21. Nevertheless, as stated at the outset, we comment briefly on an issue of notice relating to motions for substituted judgment treatment orders that has public importance, has been fully briefed and argued, and may recur under the UPC as well as other statutes that authorize other court departments to issue such orders.6 See Smith v. McDonald, 458 Mass. 540, 543 n.4 (2010); Wellesley College v. Attorney Gen., 313 Mass. 722, 731 (1943).7

2. Notice. The department served its motions to intervene and for a reinstated or updated substituted judgment treatment order on Erma's counsel on or about January 23, 2009. There is no indication in the record, however, that the department served the clinician's affidavit and medical certificate on Erma's counsel at any time before the actual motion hearing.8 Erma argues the department's failure to serve these documents at least seven days prior to the hearing violated the notice requirements of G. L. c. 201, § 7, as well as fundamental principles of due process. We agree with the position now taken by the department that quite apart from the Constitution or statutory provisions,9 under Mass. R. Civ. P. 6 (c), 365 Mass. 747 (1974),10 a party filing a motion for entry of a substituted judgment treatment order must provide all other parties with at least seven days' notice through service of a copy of the motion on them, and must give the same notice, through service, of every affidavit that will be filed in support of the motion.11

Appeal dismissed.