An 80-year-old old man in Shanghai, his wife died, and his only child with a mental illness died suddenly. The son's funeral was accompanied by the stall owner who was doing fruit business downstairs in the old man's house. No relatives were present.
Three years ago, the old man brought the stall owner to the notary Li Chenyang to do the guardianship notarization, and he wanted to give 3 million real estate to the unrelated stall owner. This incident was reported by the media recently and aroused heated discussions.
What is "intentional guardianship"?
Li Chenyang is a notary of Shanghai Putuo Notary Public Office. In an interview, he said that the old man and the stall owner had known each other years ago.
The old man ran to the fruit stand when he was fine, waiting for the child to leave school and chatting with the stall owner.
He also said that an old man who lives alone has no one to talk to him at home. It is a kind of comfort for him to have such a place to accept him and to get the so-called family happiness.
Li Chenyang:
For example, he said that my wife is gone, my son is gone, and when I can do nothing in my later years, there is no one to raise me. What should I do?
I found someone first. I have no relatives with him and I am very anxious.
The old man was anxious to find Li Chenyang, just to let the stall owner's family be his guardian while his consciousness was still clear.
This is called "intentional guardianship" in law. It is formally established in the "General Principles of the Civil Law" and clearly stipulated in the "Civil Code", which is still a new thing.
Li Chenyang said that, like this old man, the scene of seeking legal help from the notary office happened every day at the notary office because of accidents in his family.
The old man seeks a sense of stability. He needs a judicial department to help him solve the problem of his lack of identity.
Just like this old man,
he saw a person, and he was willing. He needed to establish and form an identity relationship between them through the method of "intentional guardianship", which is called the formation of judicial order in law.
What are the benefits of "intentional guardianship"?
As the first batch of "intentional guardianship" notaries, Li Chenyang has handled the first domestic case of intentional guardianship.
In the notary office where he works, 80% of the cases are similar to this old man living alone, alone, orphans, widows and other elderly groups, and most of them are not related to blood.
Once, the old man fell into a coma at home and was found by the guardian's stall owner and sent to the doctor.
Without relatives to take care of him, the stall owner went to the hospital after buying the goods in the morning and went home at night, day after day.
After that, the old man invited the couple who lived in the simple shed and their three children to live in their own house to form a special family.
Li Chenyang said that "intentional guardianship" will play an important role in some cases to avoid this situation and someone can help them solve it.
Seek medical attention:
Doctors often ask the elderly, "Are family members here?" "Do you have a guardian?"
Applying for social welfare: The
old man has various social welfare, but when he goes to various departments to apply, others will question his identity.
Such an old man is not afraid of death, he is most afraid of the painful death process, and he has to go through this life with dignity.
"Intentional guardianship
" is
better than legal guardianship. This is the shining point and core point of the legal system. The purpose is the principle of autonomy. The law guarantees the priority realization of your right to self-determination.
For daily care, serious illness treatment, hospice care, etc., "intentional guardianship" seeks guardianship for widows, widows, and loneliness caused by force majeure. It also goes beyond the possible emotional kidnapping of blood family guardianship, and respects the wishes of the elderly to the greatest extent.
"Intentional Guardianship" requires third-party supervision
However, when this old man sought guardianship, he surrendered the real estate, which surprised Li Chenyang and his colleagues.
This is because the distribution of inheritance is generally not handled with the intended guardianship, which is to avoid the guardian’s malicious intentions and accelerate the death of the elderly. This is also one of the dispute points in this case.
The work of the notary department is actually to eliminate the "intentional guardianship" whether the elderly are deceived or coerced.
Li Chenyang:
For those who are not close relatives to establish an intentional guardianship relationship like this, the notary department may let them run many times. To consciously go may "torture" them, (worry that the elderly) are confused, brainwashed, and deceived.
Our professionals first understand his social circle and close relatives from clues or from his narrative exchanges, and then determine why the old man does not designate his close relative but a non-close relative.
This "unfamiliar relationship" between the elderly and the stall owner is legalized, and there is investigation and verification beforehand, and further supervision of the guardian's behavior is required afterwards.
This also means that "intentional guardianship
"
requires supervision by a third party who has no interest.
However, the elderly feel that it is commendable to find a guardian like the stall owner. Based on trust, he, like most elderly people, does not seek supervision measures, and such cases account for about 90%.
Li Chenyang didn’t dare to take this lightly. “The supervisor is like the secretary of the Commission for Discipline Inspection. We sometimes “visit unfamiliarly” without informing the elderly, and quietly enter his community, go with his neighbors, neighborhood committees, or suddenly come to his house. , To see this old man. I often go to nursing homes, intensive care units, crematoriums, etc., because these places and scenes are where the guardian needs to appear, and it is his duty."
Li Chenyang also said that when he went to visit this old man, his face was radiant, and he felt from the heart and enjoyment when he saw the smiling face of the child.
This week, because the stall owner was selected as the guardian to give away 3 million real estate at the same time, the elderly frequently received interviews from various media, which was overwhelmed by relatives and friends; and the guardian stall owner was also under pressure from public opinion due to the combination of real estate and guardianship.
Li Chenyang:
Sometimes, he would go overboard and talk about his family members. I think this is unfair because they did not appear in the media and did not give them a chance to speak.
As this young couple, they were also surprised that the old man gave him such a heavy burden.
The old man found me, do we think this can be trusted?
Can it continue?
What should I do if his family members come to me?
In fact, the guardian’s worries are more complicated, including financial, physical, spiritual, and social censure.
I think the comments on this case should be objective.
In February, the "Report" issued by the Office of Aging showed that this year, the level of aging in my country will reach 17.17%.
Among them, the elderly who cannot take care of themselves, such as disability, dementia, loneliness, and disability, account for a certain percentage.
How to provide the elderly with support, independence and not loneliness, society needs more legal exploration and deep cultivation like intentional guardianship.
Li Chenyang said, “We hope that they live with dignity, live according to his wishes, and have trusted people to assist him when he is powerless. Not only the elderly, but also myself, an ideal state for everyone.”
Bai Yansong:
The story I just finished reading is definitely not just a problem related to the elderly.
In 2019, China's population of 60 years and over has accounted for 18.1% of the total population. In a few years, China's population of 60 years and over will exceed 300 million.
Therefore, dealing with aging is a problem in all aspects. One of the key points is to make legislation first and complete laws, otherwise there will be many troubles in the future.