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Incapacity, Guardianship and Conservatorship

What is civil incapacity and what does it consist of?

Disability is a civil status of a natural person, through which limits your ability to act, due to suffering from some disorder, illness or mental or physical deficiency. That is, the person declared incapable will have limits on the acts and actions that he or she could carry out.

Given the great relevance and importance of incapacity, it can only be determined by judicial ruling, and for causes or reasons expressly included in our legal system, that is, in the Civil Code. Despite this, there is no catalog of diseases or disorders for which a person can be declared incapable; rather, it must be a permanent state over time that prevents the subject from governing themselves, in order to protect their interests both at a personal and patrimonial level.

What is the procedure to follow to declare a person incapable?

The incapacity procedure is expressly regulated in our Civil Code, and always guarantees the intervention of the Public Prosecutor's Office. Likewise, the judge in the sentence will determine the limited acts of the incapacitated person, so a declaration of incapacity does not mean that said person sees limited their ability to act absolutely, but their actions may be limited to certain areas.

Who can request a person's disability?

Mainly, the request to the courts for incapacity is limited to the family environment of said person, that is, the spouse or equivalent (common-law partner), descendants, ascendants, and siblings may file such a judicial request, finally in a subsidiary manner, The Prosecutor may also urge it in the event that there is no relative of those already mentioned, or that if there is, they refrain from exercising such judicial action.

What consequences does the declaration of incapacity have?

The sentence that declares the incapacitation will determine the extent of the limitation of the capacity to act of the person in question, that is, what acts the incapacitated person can carry out by himself and which not. On the other hand, and given the circumstances, the internment of the incapacitated person may be ordered.

The sentence will also include the guardianship institution that best suits the needs of the incapacitated person, that is, guardianship, conservatorship or the judicial defender.

What is guardianship, and what does it entail?

Guardianship is an institution for the protection of the interests of the incapacitated, who from this moment on, It will govern your patrimonial acts as well as your efforts on a personal level. The judge will appoint a person who will exercise guardianship and act on behalf of the incapacitated person.

What is conservatorship, and what does it entail?

Like guardianship, it is an institution aimed at safeguarding the interests of an incapacitated person, although the main difference is the scope of guardianship is much more limited and restricted than guardianship. That is to say, the curator comes to complement the will of the incapable in certain specific acts that will be established in the sentence by the Judge.

If you are faced with a similar situation of a family member who suffers in a stable and permanent manner from a disorder or illness that makes it impossible for him or her to govern his or her actions or, by using them, calls himself or herself into a critical situation, it would be advisable to inform yourself about the previous figures. legal aspects as well as their processing, for which you will need a law firm in Murcia to advise you on all the extremes and mechanisms, for which you can count on our services in this matter.

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