Guardianship has changed its name
Guardianship has changed its name
"I recently learned that people who are incapable of discernment can no longer be placed under guardianship, as this institution has disappeared. If this is true, what happens to these people and who takes decisions for them?"
Yvonne, Champel
Several years ago, the Federal Chambers of Parliament realised that guardianship law no longer corresponded to contemporary thinking and needed to be updated.
The revision of the law, which came into force on 1 January 2013, has made the measures taken to assist people in a state of weakness more flexible. The authorities responsible for protecting adults must now choose from a catalogue of measures the one that seems best suited to the particular case, in order to limit intervention to what is strictly necessary.
The terminology of the old law, considered stigmatising and hurtful to the person concerned, has been completely overhauled. Pejorative terms such as "forbidden", "ward", "guardianship" and "drunkenness" have been removed from the legislation and replaced by more neutral expressions such as "person concerned" or "alcoholism". The guardianship authorities are now called adult protection authorities.
When a person of full age is unable to look after his or her own interests due to a mental deficiency, mental disorder or other state of weakness that affects his or her personal condition, the adult protection authority may, either ex officio or on application, order one of the four measures known as "curatorship", or even combine some of them.
Guardianship of support, the least incisive measure, is instituted with the agreement of the person who needs assistance in carrying out certain acts, such as organising a meal plan or writing letters.
Guardianship of representation is chosen when the person needs to be represented in the performance of such acts. The authorities determine which tasks are to be entrusted to the curator, who acts exclusively in the name and on behalf of the protected person, who thus loses the exercise of civil rights in respect of the acts in question.
Cooperative guardianship requires the prior consent of the curator for certain pre-determined actions of the protected person. Examples include any request for a loan.
Finally, general curatorship, the most incisive measure, is equivalent to the former prohibition (or guardianship) and deprives the person of the exercise of civil rights. As a result, people who were previously prohibited from exercising their civil rights will now be legally represented by a curator of general application.
