Wang Moujia's application for a declaration that a natural person is incapable of civil conduct and an application for the appointment of a guardian
- The appointment of guardians of adults without capacity for civil conduct shall follow the principle of benefiting the ward
keyword
Civil Application for declaration of incapacity of natural person Application for appointment of guardian Dispute over guardianship of an adult with no capacity for civil conduct Appointment of guardianship Joint guardianship
Basic facts of the case
Applicant Wang Moujia stated that she was the daughter of Chen. On March 11, 2022, Chen was hospitalized for cerebral infarction and is now living in a senior care service center. Chen relied on nasogastric feeding, so that she had no response, could not take care of herself and urinate, could not turn over by herself, and needed to be taken care of by others for eating, dressing, and urinating. An application is hereby made to declare Chen X as a person with no capacity for civil conduct and to designate Wang X A as Chen's guardian.
Chen's agent, Zhao, said that he and Chen were both married for the second time, and their children were adults at the time of marriage. Chen has a history of hypertension, and on March 11, 2022, Chen fell ill and was hospitalized. On April 9, 2022, when he went to visit Chen, Chen was unconscious, telling him that he was completely unresponsive and needed to take a liquid diet normally. If Chen is declared to be a person with no capacity for civil conduct, he is willing to be Chen's guardian.
After trial, the court ascertained that Chen was the mother of Wang X A and Wang X B. Chen and his spouse Zhao both remarried, and their children were adults when they got married. Now Chen and Zhao have lived together for more than ten years. Chen was hospitalized due to illness and was unable to take care of himself after being discharged.
After being commissioned by the court to conduct a judicial appraisal, Chen was identified as: organic mental disorder (dementia), incapable of civil conduct; Chen's village committee and Wang Mouyi and other relevant units and personnel all proved that Chen was unconscious, bedridden for a long time, and unable to take care of himself. Regarding the appointment of Chen's guardian, his spouse Zhao and daughters Wang X A and Wang X B all requested to be Chen's guardian.
On May 30, 2023, the People's Court of Huantai County, Shandong Province, rendered the (2023) Lu 0321 Min Te No. 7 Civil Judgment: 1. Chen is a person with no capacity for civil conduct. 2. Designate Zhao X and Wang X A as Chen's joint guardians. The case was tried in accordance with the special procedures, and the first instance was final, and the above-mentioned judgment has taken effect.
Grounds for the Trial
Due to an organic mental disorder, Chen's ability to think, express and cognition has been seriously affected. According to the conclusion of the judicial appraisal, Chen has no capacity for civil conduct. Therefore, Wang X A's application for a declaration that Chen X is a person with no capacity for civil conduct, the facts are clear, the evidence is sufficient, and it is supported in accordance with law.
On the issue of Chen's guardian after being found to be incapacitated for civil conduct. Wang Moujia submitted an application to the court for appointing a guardian, and in order to avoid the burden of litigation by the parties, the case was handled together. The second paragraph of Article 31 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China stipulates that "residents' committees, villagers' committees, civil affairs departments or people's courts shall respect the true wishes of the wards and appoint guardians among those who have guardianship qualifications in accordance with the law in accordance with the principle of the best interests of the wards." "In this case, Chen's spouse Zhao and Chen are married for the second time and have lived together for many years, and Zhao is now very old, often sick and hospitalized, and needs to be taken care of by others, but in many court investigations, they have expressed their willingness to be Chen's guardian. As Chen's daughter, Wang Moujia often visited and took good care of Chen during his hospitalization and nursing home, and was willing to be Chen's guardian. Considering the essence of guardianship is a duty, it will be more beneficial for Chen to protect his rights and interests if multiple people assume the duties of guardianship. There is no evidence to prove that Zhao and Wang are obviously not qualified to serve as guardians, and both Zhao and Wang are willing to perform guardianship duties and protect the rights and interests of their wards, and the court believes that it is more appropriate for Zhao and Wang to serve as Chen's co-guardians, and it is also more conducive to protecting Chen's lawful rights and interests. During the trial of this case, Wang MouB also expressed his willingness to be Chen's guardian, and upon review, Wang Moujia took care of Chen's illness relatively more, and was more aware of Chen's situation, so it was more appropriate for Wang Moujia and Zhao to be Chen's co-guardians. Zhao X and Wang X A are also Chen's guardians, and shall understand each other, make concessions, and actively negotiate to jointly protect Chen's lawful rights and interests.
Summary of the trial
1. Where the applicant applies for a declaration that a natural person is incapacitated for civil conduct and at the same time applies for the appointment of a guardian, it may be handled in one case. Where the applicant applies for a declaration that a natural person lacks capacity for civil conduct and at the same time applies for the appointment of a guardian, if it is found after trial that the subject of the application should be declared incapable of civil conduct, it may be handled together in order to promptly determine the guardian and avoid the burden of litigation.
2. Principles and specific considerations for appointing guardians of adults with no capacity for civil conduct. Where an application is made to a people's court for the appointment of a guardian due to a dispute over the determination of a guardian of an adult who lacks capacity for civil conduct, the people's court should be more cautious when appointing a guardian because the adult as a ward often has characteristics such as deterioration of physiological functions and complex identity and property relationships. If several persons with guardianship qualifications in accordance with law all request to serve as guardians, the people's court shall respect the true wishes of the wards, and in accordance with the principle of the best interests of the wards, comprehensively consider the degree of closeness of the wards' lives and emotional ties between the wards, the order of guardianship of the wards, and whether there are violations or crimes that are not conducive to the performance of guardianship duties, and consider factors such as the guardianship capacity, willingness, and conduct of the persons, and designate the most suitable person to be the guardian.
3. On the basis of the principle of favoring the ward, several persons may be appointed to jointly serve as guardians of adults with no capacity for civil conduct. Where several persons lawfully qualified to serve as guardians of adults without civil capacity all have guardianship capacity and have expressed their willingness to serve as guardians, because guardianship is essentially a duty, and if it is more conducive to protecting the rights and interests of the ward by more than one person serving as guardians, several persons may be appointed to jointly serve as guardians of adults without civil capacity, but in order to avoid conflicts of guardianship opinions and obstruction of the protection of the rights and interests of the ward, the appointment of joint guardians is based on the principle of necessity and should not be excessive.
The designated guardianship shall be based on the guardianship of one person, supplemented by the joint guardianship of several persons. In order to prevent guardians from passing the buck and promptly protect the rights and interests of the ward, the people's courts lawfully appoint a guardian who is generally one person, and if upon review the joint guardianship of several persons is more conducive to protecting the rights and interests of the ward, the people's court may also designate several persons to take joint guardianship.
Associate indexes
Articles 24, 28 and 31 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China
Article 9 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the General Provisions of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China
First instance: Shandong Province Huantai County People's Court (2023) Lu 0321 Min Te No. 7 Civil Judgment (May 30, 2023)