Appointment of a Guardian for an Alzheimer’s Patient in Turkish Law

How to Appoint a Guardian for an Alzheimer’s Patient?

Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative condition that causes progressive deterioration in memory, thinking, and behavior. This situation can make it difficult for the patient to manage their own affairs and make decisions on their behalf.

In Turkey, a guardian may need to be appointed to care for and protect an Alzheimer’s patient. The guardian acts as the patient’s legal representative and makes decisions on their behalf.

Steps for appointing a guardian:

Application to the Civil Court of Peace: A relative of the Alzheimer’s patient or someone willing to undertake the guardianship role can apply to the Civil Court of Peace in their place of residence with a petition. The petition should include the patient’s identification details, the Alzheimer’s diagnosis, and the justification for the guardianship request.

Required documents: In addition to the petition, a current Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis report from a fully equipped state hospital and the identity card and population registry copy of the person willing to undertake the guardianship role must be submitted.

Court review: The court examines the petition and submitted documents and may, if deemed necessary, decide to have a medical board evaluate the patient’s medical condition. Based on the medical board’s report, the court decides on the appointment of a guardian.

Appointment of a guardian: If the court decides to appoint a guardian, it determines who the guardian will be. The guardian can be one of the patient’s relatives or an experienced lawyer in this matter. The guardian must act in the patient’s best interests and make appropriate decisions on their behalf.

After the appointment of a guardian:

Guardianship account: The guardian opens a guardianship account in the patient’s name, and all the patient’s income and expenses are tracked from this account.
Regular reporting: The guardian regularly reports to the court about the patient’s condition and financial situation.
Accountability: At the end of the guardianship duty, the guardian reports to the court.

Things to consider about appointing a guardian for an Alzheimer’s patient:

The appointment of a guardian cannot be against the patient’s will.
The guardian must act in the patient’s best interests and make appropriate decisions on their behalf.
The guardian must report to the court at the end of their guardianship duty.

Legal Basis for Appointing a Guardian for an Alzheimer’s Patient

Article 405 of the Turkish Civil Code regulates the basic provisions for appointing a guardian for persons who cannot manage their affairs due to mental illness or other reasons. According to this article, “a guardian is appointed by the judge for a person who cannot manage their affairs due to mental illness or other reasons.”

Requirements for the Person to be Appointed as a Guardian for Alzheimer’s Patients

The requirements for the person to be appointed as a guardian are as follows:

Full legal capacity: The person to be a guardian must be over 18 years old, mentally healthy, and able to manage their own affairs.

No legal impediment: There must be no legal impediment preventing the person from being a guardian. For example, persons convicted of crimes such as murder or fraud cannot be guardians.

Trustworthiness: The person to be a guardian must be honest and trustworthy.

Love and respect for the patient: The person to be a guardian must love and respect the Alzheimer’s patient.

Willingness to act in the patient’s best interests: The person to be a guardian must be willing to act in the patient’s best interests and make the best decisions on their behalf.

Duration of Guardianship

The duration of the guardianship appointed for an Alzheimer’s patient is two years. The guardianship application is renewed every two years. After four years, the appointed guardian may end their guardianship.

Can the Guardian Appointed for an Alzheimer’s Patient Request a Fee?

If the disability due to Alzheimer’s disease is 90% or higher, the person is considered to have severe clinical dementia, and the appointed guardian may request a care fee. However, they can also perform their guardianship without requesting any fee.

Medical Report for Appointing a Guardian for an Alzheimer’s Patient

To appoint a guardian for an Alzheimer’s patient, a medical report documenting the patient’s medical condition must be presented by a medical specialist. This report plays an important role in the court’s decision to appoint a guardian.

To appoint a guardian for a person with Alzheimer’s disease, the disability rate in the medical report must be 40% or higher.

Information required in the medical report:

Patient’s Name and Surname:
Date of Birth:
Turkish ID Number:
Date of Examination:
Name and Surname of the Examining Doctor:
Patient’s Medical History: Information about how long the patient has had Alzheimer’s disease, the course of the disease, and their current condition.
Physical Examination Findings: The patient’s general health status, neurological examination findings, and cognitive function test results.
Diagnosis: The definitive diagnosis of the patient and the stage of the disease.
Treatment Information: The medications and other treatments the patient is currently receiving.
Patient’s Ability to Perform Activities of Daily Living (ADL): How well the patient can perform daily living activities such as feeding, dressing, bathing, toileting, and doing household chores independently.
Patient’s Cognitive Function Status: The extent to which the patient’s cognitive functions such as memory, attention, language, reasoning, and problem-solving are impaired.
Patient’s Behavioral and Psychological Condition: The patient’s mood, sleep patterns, appetite, aggression, hallucinations, and other behavioral and psychological problems.
Doctor’s Opinion: The doctor’s opinion on whether a guardian should be appointed for the patient.

To arrange the medical report:

The patient needs to be examined by a neurology specialist to confirm they have Alzheimer’s disease.
The neurology specialist diagnoses the disease by evaluating the patient’s medical history, physical examination findings, and cognitive function test results.
After the diagnosis, the neurology specialist arranges a medical report.
The medical report must be issued by an official institution and bear the doctor’s stamp and signature.

Important Notes:

The medical report alone is not sufficient for appointing a guardian. The court will consider other evidence before deciding on the appointment of a guardian.
The medical report must be current. If six months have passed since the report’s issue date, the court may request a new medical report.

Examples of Appointing a Guardian for an Alzheimer’s Patient

Below are some examples related to the appointment of a guardian for an Alzheimer’s patient:

Example 1:

Mr. Ahmet, an 80-year-old gentleman, has been experiencing memory loss and cognitive decline in recent years. He can no longer feed, dress, or bathe himself independently. His family is also having difficulty taking care of him. In this case, a petition can be filed with the court to limit Mr. Ahmet’s legal capacity and appoint a guardian. The court may decide to appoint a guardian by evaluating Mr. Ahmet’s medical report and the statements of family members. The guardian can take care of Mr. Ahmet’s daily care and protection, manage his assets, and make medical decisions.

Example 2:

Ms. Ayşe, a 75-year-old lady, is not able to conduct legal transactions due to Alzheimer’s disease. She cannot perform transactions like withdrawing money from the bank or selling her property. In this case, a guardian needs to be appointed for Ms. Ayşe to carry out legal transactions on her behalf. The court may decide to appoint a guardian by evaluating Ms. Ayşe’s medical report and the statements of family members. The guardian can carry out legal transactions on Ms. Ayşe’s behalf, manage her money in the bank, and sell her property.

Example 3:

Mr. Mehmet, a 65-year-old gentleman, has lost his legal capacity due to Alzheimer’s disease, and a guardian has been appointed. The guardian has started to misuse Mr. Mehmet’s assets. In this case, other family members can file a lawsuit against the guardian and request the guardian’s removal. The court will decide whether to remove the guardian after evaluating the evidence in the case.

Some Supreme Court Decisions Related to the Appointment of a Guardian for an Alzheimer’s Patient

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(…) In the plaintiff’s petition, it is stated that his mother … is an Alzheimer’s patient and harms the environment, and he requests the appointment of a guardian in accordance with Article 405 of the Turkish Civil Code; the court decided to appoint a guardian based on the obtained medical board report, and the judgment was appealed by the plaintiff.

From the examination of the information and documents in the file; it is understood that the medical board report dated 10.03.2015 obtained from … State Hospital, which is the basis for the decision to appoint a guardian, found dementia and dementia syndrome findings but expressed an opinion in favor of appointing a guardian, so the report is not sufficient for a judgment.

Considering the plaintiff’s claims, it is necessary to send the restricted candidate together with the file to the Forensic Medicine Institute to obtain a report on whether the appointment of a guardian is necessary based on the dementia and dementia syndrome findings in the report, and to decide according to the result, while the decision to appoint the restricted candidate …’s daughter … as the guardian based on insufficient investigation and incomplete examination was not considered correct.(…)

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(…) In the medical board report of Haydarpaşa Numune Education and Research Hospital dated 25/01/2013 and numbered 297, obtained by the court to determine the health status; it is stated that although the restricted candidate with Alzheimer’s disease is aware of the reasons and consequences of his actions despite his advanced age, no mental illness and weakness were detected, and it was not deemed necessary to appoint a guardian, it was stated that he is competent to make legal transactions.

After the decision of our department dated 25.11.2013 to return the file, from the patient epicrisis reports and patient examination forms submitted by the plaintiff as evidence and presented to the court from the Private Büyükçekmece K.. Hospital; it is understood that Ş.. M.. has mild cognitive impairment, dementia; early-onset Alzheimer’s and dementia,

Since there is a contradiction between the reports in the file of Ş.. M.., whose restriction is requested, it is necessary to send the file together with the previously obtained hospital and treatment documents to the relevant Specialization Board of the Forensic Medicine Institute to eliminate this contradiction, and to determine whether there is a reason for restriction under Article 405 of the Turkish Civil Code with an official medical board report, and to decide according to the result, while the decision to reject the case with incomplete investigation was not considered correct.(…)

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