Guardianship for Older Adults: A Jurisprudent Science Perspective

Abstract

Guardianship may be "the most inclusive method of substitute decision-making for persons who have been adjudicated incompetent," and is also "the legal process that establishes the parameters for other more limited types of civil incompetency determinations, such as the rights to refuse treatment and to vote (Parry & Drogin, 200 I, p. 89). Statutory reform appears to be achieving measurable improvements in court practice regarding guardianship proceedings (Moye, Wood, Edelstein, Wood, Bower, Harrison & Armesto, 2007), while case law continues to probe such developing notions as the transfer of guardianship from one jurisdiction to another (Bolton & Pinals, 2006). Noting that much has changed in the custodial approach to those deemed incompetent to manage their personal affairs, Appelbaum and Gutheil (2007) have observed that: Modern law recognizes a broader potential scope of concern for a guardian-the well-being of the individual herself. This form of guardianship over the person, which might co-exist with, or exist independently of, control over the property, grants broad powers of decision-making over the personal affairs of the ward, such as liv