Legal Guardianship

Legal Guardianship in Aging Law

Concept of Legal Guardianship in the context of Community Health Care and Services for Older Persons, published by the World Health Organization (WHO):Power, conferred by legal authority, to control an indivdual’s affairs in relation to medical or other care.

Comparisons of guardianship laws and surrogate decision-making practices in China, Japan, Thailand and Australia: a review by the Asia Consortium, International Psychogeriatric Association (IPA) capacity taskforce

Paper produced by Joshua Tsoh, Carmelle Peisah, Helen Fung Kum Chiu and published in 2015 in International psychogeriatrics. Here are the key details:

METHOD
The current guardianship laws are compared, and jurisdictional variations in the processes for proxy decision-making to support persons with DMDs and other health and social needs in China, Japan, Thailand, and Australia are explored.

RESULTS
The different Asia-Pacific countries have various proxy decision-making mechanisms in place for persons with DMDs, which are both formalized according to common law, civil law, and other legislation, and shaped by cultural practices. Various processes for guardianship and mechanisms for medical decision-making and asset management exist across the region. Processes that are still evolving across the region include those that facilitate advanced planning as a result of the paucity of legal structures for enduring powers of attorney (EPA) and guardianship in some regions, and the struggle to achieve consensual positions in regard to end-of-life decision-making. Formal processes for supporting decision-making are yet to be developed.

CONCLUSIONS
The diverse legal approaches to guardianship and administration must be understood to meet the challenges of the rapidly ageing population in the Asia-Pacific region. Commonalities in the solutions and difficulties faced in encountering these challenges have global significance.