When a person is unable to fend for herself, whether because she is a parentless child or an adult who suffers from mental retardation, mental illness, substance abuse, or dementia, those around her may discuss the possibility of guardianship. Unlike voluntary measures short of guardianship, like setting up a joint bank account (where two people share control of funds), a representative payee (when one person looks after another person’s government benefits), a conservatorship, a trust, or a power of attorney (voluntary arrangements that can be similar in scope to a guardianship), a true guardianship is rare and serious and may be established only by a court of law. This court, commonly called the county Probate Court, declares or appoints one person (the guardian) to protect the interests of another (the ward), whether the ward likes it or not.
A guardian of the person is authorized to only make medical decisions, including the ward’s living arrangements, and to monitor closely the...
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American Bar Association. (1988). Life services planning: Support services and alternatives to guardianship. Chicago: American Bar Association.
Robertson, Edward D. Jr. (1991). Personal autonomy and substituted judgement: Legal issues in medical decisions for incompetent patients. Corpus Christi, TX: Diocesan Press.
Shmidt, Winsor C. Jr. (1995). Guardianship: Court of last resort for the elderly and disabled. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press.
Suggested Resources
National Guardianship Association. www.guardianship.org
Kansas Elder Law Network. www.keln.org
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© 2004 Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers
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Lowder, J.L., Verhosek, C.M. (2004). Guardianship. In: Encyclopedia of Women’s Health. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-306-48113-0_180
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