Guardian Appointed for a Disabled Person and Guardian Appointed for a Partially Incapacitated Person

Abstract

A guardianship court may appoint in non-litigious proceedings a guardian for a disabled person (Article 183 of the Polish Family and Guardianship Code, hereinafter: FGC) and for a partially incapacitated person (Article 181 FGC). It is not always possible to precisely delimit the areas of application of these provisions which entails problems in practice. Particularly problematic is the nature of the guardianship established for a disabled person and for a partially incapacitated person and the scope of the powers of both guardians. Especially debatable is the status of the guardian of a partially incapacitated person, who has not been authorized by the court to manage the assets of the ward and represent him/her. The purpose of this article is to indicate the scope of action of the guardian appointed for a disabled person and for a partially incapacitated person together with the determination of their status. The guardian is established for a partially incapacitated person, who, under the authority to represent and manage the property of the ward, is the ward’s statutory representative. The guardian appointed for a disabled person, who is not a statutory representative of this person, has a different status. The guardian under Article 183 FGC provides, above all, factual assistance to a person who has not been incapacitated, even if the person is affected by mental dysfunctions, while the guardian under Article 181 FGC provides assistance in legal acts, procedural acts and factual acts not relating to legal acts for a person who has been partially incapacitated.

Keywords

• kurator dla osoby niepełnosprawnej
• osoba niepełnosprawna
• kurator dla osoby ubezwłasnowolnionej częściowo
• kuratela