Guardianship for Adults with Intellectual Disabilities: Accountant, Advocate or ‘Family’ Member?

Lottie Giertz

doi:10.16993/sjdr.40

Abstract

The overarching aim of this study is to explore guardianship in terms of its impact on daily lives of adults with intellectual disabilities in Sweden. Based on qualitative interviews, the article focuses on the expected and actual role of limited guardians for people with intellectual disabilities in the context of Swedish laws. Our findings show that the legal definition of limited guardianship is unclear and that this lack of clarity, among other dilemmas, creates conflict among clients, guardians, relatives, professionals and care workers. The guardian may be expected to act as an accountant, a legal advocate, or even a surrogate family member. The result is consistent with previous research in other countries on the consequences of guardianship. The current legislation on limited guardianship is in need of amendment in order to avoid legal uncertainty and ambiguity among clients and their support network.

Highlights

In many Western countries, considerable efforts are made to improve various forms of support for people with intellectual disabilities to give them the opportunity to defend their rights (Schmidt 2014)
Accountant with financial commitments All interviews revealed a clear focus on the financial aspect of guardianship, and several of the limited guardians focused solely on this, saying that they rely on care staff to ensure the client’s quality of life
Experiences of the guardianship system have a focus on independency in every-day life, as we can see in findings, but this is framed by social policy, together with the UNCRPD, and this has to be taken into account

Summary

Introduction

In many Western countries, considerable efforts are made to improve various forms of support for people with intellectual disabilities to give them the opportunity to defend their rights (Schmidt 2014). One way is to develop laws governing assistance in the form of legal representation (i.e., guardianship) for people with limitations in their ability to handle societal rules and regulations in daily life, such as managing bank transactions and signing contracts (Devi et al 2011). Guardianship refers to a legal relationship between one person (the client) and a legal representative (the guardian). Client huvudman, refers to an adult person with an intellectual disability and who is in need of support by a limited guardian. Disability in this text refers to limitations that arise in the individual’s encounter with the environment. By examining the research question from these three perspectives, roles and consequences are highlighted in relation to the people in need of this kind of assistance

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Conclusion