The Yomiuri ShimbunGuardians of adults who are mentally incapacitated, such as elderly people suffering from dementia, have a significant role to play. It is imperative that suitable individuals are chosen to fulfill such roles.

The Supreme Court has notified the family courts, which are in charge of selecting guardians, that it is desirable for guardians to be close relatives of wards.

In recent years, there has been an increase in cases in which such legal professionals as lawyers and judicial scriveners have been chosen as guardians. The ratio of guardians who are relatives has declined from 91 percent in fiscal 2000, when this system of adult guardianship was introduced, down to 23 percent last year.

The latest suggestion by the top court can be considered as a major policy change concerning the selection of guardians of adults.

There has been strong opposition among relatives and others to having strangers selected as guardians, who could potentially receive large remuneration for their services. This has been the primary reason relatives have been reluctant to use the system. It is an understandable course of action to choose a suitable close relative as a guardian if possible.

The important thing is for family courts to discern the aptitude and ability of any relative considered for guardianship.

Guardians have been involved in embezzling the assets of their wards. Last year, damage totaling ¥1.13 billion was caused by the illegal acts of guardians, most of whom were relatives of the victims.

If the value of the assets that are to be managed is high, thereby increasing the need for fraud prevention, legal professionals will be chosen as supervisors to monitor the management of the assets by their relatives. It should be considered that even after guardians are chosen, they should be replaced flexibly, in accordance with how the guardians handle their role and the situation in which the wards are placed.

Support relatives

It is also important to extend continued support to those relatives who have become guardians.

The tasks of guardians are not limited to asset management. Respecting the wishes of wards and supporting their livelihoods were the original purposes of the system. The tasks assumed are diverse, such as making homes barrier-free and managing contracts for health or nursing care services.

Local governments across the country are required to establish a core department that will serve as a point of contact for the adult guardianship system, but so far only 5 percent of local governments have done so. A framework for handling requests for advice from relatives must be expedited.

There is also a system to support asset management entrusted to guardians, under which assets other than those needed for wards’ daily lives are to be deposited in trust banks, and if a large amount of spending is required for such purposes as home renovation, guardians are allowed to withdraw entrusted assets with the approval of a family court. Such a system should be made more widely known.

There has been an increase in such cases in which the heads of local municipalities — cities, wards, towns and villages — apply the system for those elderly people who have no close relatives. It is also necessary, at the same time, to promote the fostering of citizen guardians who would assume such roles in local communities, in addition to legal professionals.

The number of people who use the adult guardianship system totals 218,000, just a fraction of those elderly people with dementia, whose number is estimated to exceed 5 million. Making people understand the merits of the system will be the first step toward promoting its use.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, April 1, 2019)Speech

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