# The Marriage Laws of Soviet Russia/Title 4

TITLE IV
GUARDIANSHIP
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Chapter I
The Organs of Guardianship
184, The organs of guardianship are those institutions charged with the functions of guardianship either directly or through guardians and trustees.
185. The People;s Commissariat of Social Welfare, the Departments of Social Welfare attached to the provincial Soviets, and to the Petrograd and Moscow Municipal Councils shall constitute the organs of guardianship.
Note. The duties of the organs of guardianship, so far as Russian citizens residing abroad are concerned, shall be performed by the foreign representatives of Russia.
186. The duties of the Department of Social Welfare shall comprise the organization of facilities in general for the guardianship of minors and mentally defective persons, as well as the institution, administration and termination of guardianship, and the appointment, dismissal and general supervision over the activity of guardians and trustees.
187. The People's Commissariat of Social Welfare shall direct the organization of facilities in ​general for guardianship of minors and mentally defective persons and shall supervise the activities ef the local departments of Social Welfare.
188. The guardians, as the legal representatives of their wards, shall protect all the personal and property rights of the said wards.
189. Trustees may be appointed either for the management of the property in general or for the execution of specific acts.
Note. Regulations prescribed for guardians shall also be applicable to trustees in-so-far as no special rules shall be prescribed for the latter.
Chapter II
The Institution and Termination of Guardianship and Trusteeship
190. Guardianship shall be instituted to protect the interests of minors and persons mentally defective, and shall be administered either by the Department of Social Welfare or by a guardian specially appointed for such purpose.
191. Male persons not having attained the age of 18 or female persons under the age of 16 shall be deemed to be minors.
Note. Persons who have not attained full age may with their consent be declared to be of full age by a special decision of the respective Department of Social Welfare.
​192. Every minor not in the care of his or her parents shall have a guardianship instituted over him or her.
193. Mentally defective persons shall have guardianship instituted over them after the fact of such deficiency is duly determined
Note. Regulations relating to the examination of mentally defective person are attached thereto.
194. The Department of Social Welfare located in the place of residence of the persons subject to guardianship shall issue decrees instituting the said guardianship.
195. The Department of Social Welfare shall be informed in cases mentioned in Section 192 of the necessity to establish a guardianship by the officials and institutions within whose knowledge such information may come or by relatives of the persons subject to guardianship or by such persons themselves.
196. The Department of Social Welfare shall be informed of the necessity to institute a guardianship in cases mentioned in Section 193 by the Medical Department attached to the Provincial Soviet in the place of residence of the person found mentally defective.
197. The Department of Social Welfare may institute a guardianship on its authority in cases when it shall be informed of the necessity to institute such by means other than those mentioned in Sections 195–196.
198. In cases when it shall be established that ​an adult person, due to old age or any other infirmity or to inexperience, shall not be able to manage his affairs in an expedient manner or to protect his interests in any specific instance, such adult may petition for the institution of a guardianship over him.
199. On the institution of a guardianship an announcement thereof shall be made in the local newspapers designated for the publication of the same.
Note. The People's Commissariat of Justice shall publish for general information the list of mentally defective persons over whom guardianship has been instituted.
200. Within two weeks after the appearance of the announcement mentioned in Section 199, the interested parties shall have the right to present to the Department of Social Welfare located in their place of residence their objections to the decree for the institution of a guardianship.
201. Guardianship shall be terminated when the cause for its institution shall disappear.
202. Guardianship over minors shall terminate when they become of full age.
203. In cases mentioned in the Note to Section 191 the Department of Social Welfare, upon issuing an order declaring a person to be of full age, shall simultaneously define the date of his becoming of full age and shall publish the order in the local newspapers designated for the publication of the same.
204. The guardianship over mentally defective persons shall be terminated by a decision of the ​respective Department upon receipt of notification from the Medical Department that the said person has mutually recovered.
205. Trusteeship shall be terminated by a decision of the respective Department of Social Welfare when the cause for its institution shall disappear.
Chapter III
Appointment and Dismissal of Guardians
206. The appointment of a guardian in the cases when the Department of Social Welfare shall not itself undertake the duties of guardianship shall be made within one week after the respective Department of Social Welfare shall be informed of the necessity to institute the same.
Note. One guardian may be appointed to take care of the affairs of a single person, or of a number of persons.
207. Persons of full age and capable of performing this function shall be eligible for appointment as guardians.
208. The following persons shall not be eligible for appointment as guardians:
| (a) | Persons themselves under guardianship. |
| (b) | Persons judicially deprived of civil rights. |
| (c) | Persons whose interests are opposed to the interests of the ward and in particular those who shall exhibit a hostile attitude to the latter. |
210. The Department of Social Welfare, in appointing a guardian according to the procedure mentioned in Section 209, shall take into consideration the personal attitude of the said guardian to the ward and tbe proximity of their places of residence.
211. The person appointed guardian shall be informed immediately in writing of his appointment. An announcement of the appointment shall be made in the local newspapers designated for the publication of the same.
212. All the interested parties shall be entitled to appeal against the decree appointing a certain person as a guardian within two weeks after the appearance of the announcement relating to the said .appointment. The appeal shall be made to the local court exercising jurisdiction over the territory where the Department of Social Welfare making zhe appointment is located.
213. Every citizen of the Russian Republic appointed as a guardian by the Department of Social Welfare shall be bound to accept the office.
214. The following shall be entitled to decline the appointment to guardianship:
| (a) | Persons who have attained the age of sixty years. |
| (b) | Persons who could execute the duties of a ​guardian only with difficulty on account of some physical defects. |
| (c) | Persons who are exercising their parental authority over more than four children. |
| (d) | Persons already appointed as guardians over one person or a number of persons. |
215. If one of the causes for the refusal of guardianship mentioned in the previous section shall be applicable to the person appointed as a guardian the said person shall signify his refusal within one week after the receipt of notification of his appointment. A person who shall not signify his refusal in the said manner shall be deemed to have accepted the appointment.
216. The Department of Social Welfare on ascertaining that the refusal to accept the appointment as a guardian is well founded, shall appoint another person to the guardianship. Nevertheless, the person first. appointed guardian, despite his refusal to accept the said appointment, shall execute the duties of his office prior to the entry of the subsequently appointed guardian upon the duties of the same.
217. The duties of the guardianship shall devolve upon the person appointed to the same by the Department of Social Welfare immediately upon the receipt of the notification of the appointment.
218. The termination of a guardianship or the existence of the conditions mentioned in Section 208 shall operate to suspend the duties of a guardian.
219. An appointment of a guardian may be revoked by a decree of the Department of Social ​Welfare in those instances when the said guardian shall be found guilty of neglect or abuse in the execution of his duties, and powers, or when the said guardian shall fulfill the duties of his office in a manner prejudicial to the interests of the ward.
220. Any person, including the ward, may request the revocation of a guardian's appointment by reason of the causes mentioned in the preceding section.
221. The Department of Social Welfare, prior to issuing a decree for the revocation of the guardian's appointment, shall be bound to make an inquiry into the circumstances of the case and-shall examine the guardian.
222. If during his continuation in the office any of the causes mentioned in subsections a, b, and c of Section 214 shall arise, entitling the guardian to the refusal of his guardianship, the said guardian shall apply for his discharge in a manner prescribed by Section 215 foregoing.
Chapter IV
Personal Protection of Wards, Administration of Their Property, and Responsibility of the Organs of Guardianship
223. It shall be the duty of the department charged with guardianship or the particular guardians, in their capacity of legal and general representatives of their wards, to protect the personal and economic interests of the latter.
​224. The organ of guardianship in charge of a minor shall care for the person of the ward, his education and preparation for useful activity.
225. A guardian appointed to a minor shall be obliged to keep the ward with him and shall be entitled to demand the restitution of the same from any person who shall attempt to detain the said ward unlawfully.
226. The guardian must obtain the consent of the respective Department of Social Welfare in case he desires to place the ward with some other person or institution for education, or in case, the ward having attained the age of 16 years, the guardian, with the consent of the ward, desires to enter into a contract relative to the employment of the latter.
227. The organ of guardianship in charge of a mentally defective person shall protect and support the said person in all personal matters and shall exercise due care of his health.
228. In case it shall be necessary to place a mentally defective person in a medical institution, the guardian shall so inform the Department of Social Welfare which shall refer the matter to the Medical Department for the appointment of a medical commission. This commission shall determine the necessity of placing the ward in an institution.
229. The organ of guardianship shall discharge its functions relating to the protection of a minor ward without pay, but it shall be reimbursed out of the property of the ward for all expenses incurred in connection with the upbringing, ​education and medical treatment of the ward, provided the same shall not exceed the total income of the ward.
230. The organ of guardianship shall administer the property of the ward carefully and in a business-like manner.
231. In case a ward shall succeed to an estate as mentioned in Section 129, the organ of guardianship shall administer the property on equal terms with the other persons entitled to participate in the administration and disposition of the said estate.
232. The organ of guardianship in its capacity as the representative of the ward shall be entitled to do all the things which the ward himself could do if he were in possession of full civil rights.
233. A guardian shall not represent a ward when the latter is engaged in a business transaction with, or is conducting a law suit against, the spouse of the guardian or his relative in the direct ascending or descending lines.
234. A guardian shall not be a party in his own interest to an agreement concerning the property of a ward, nor shall he acquire any interest in claims brought by or against the ward.
235. The payment of debts to the guardian due on transactions entered into by him with the ward prior to his appointment as guardian, shall be made by special permission of the respective Department of Social Welfare.
236. The organ of guardianship in its capacity as the representative of the ward shall not disburse any donations whatsoever.
​237. In every year, and not later than on the 15th day of January of the year next following, a guardian shall prepare a written report on the administration of the wards property insofar as the income from this property shall exceed the minimum living wage for the given locality and shall present the report to the Department of Social Welfare.
238. The Department of Social Welfare may allow a remuneration to the guardian for the administration of the ward's property, taking into consideration:
| (a) | The net income accruing from the property of the ward; |
| (b) | The financial means of the guardian; |
| (c) | The amount of the work done by the guardian in the administration of the property of the ward. |
239. On the termination of the guardianship, the ward shall have the right to claim from the organ of guardianship all the damages and losses caused by bad faith or negligent administration.
240. On the termination of the guardianship a guardian shall prepare and present a special report on his administration.
241. Any person, including the ward, may complain to the Department of Social Welfare of any acts of the guardian pertaining to the care of the ward.
242. Any person, including the ward, shall have the right to complain to the Department of Social Welfare of any acts of the guardian pertaining to the administration of the ward's property.
​243. The interested parties shall have the right to appeal to the People's Commissariat of Social Welfare against the decisions of the Department of Social Welfare made upon complaints brought against the guardians.
244. The People's Commissariat of Social Welfare shall examine the appeals brought against the acts or decrees of the Department of Social Welfare not later than within three months from the date of the receipt of the said appeals.
245. In case the People’s Commissariat of Social Welfare shall sustain a decision of the Department of Social Welfare, the interested parties shall have the right to contest the said decision in the manner prescribed by law.
246. The regulations contained in the present chapter shall also apply to the cases when the Department of Social Welfare shall deem it necessary to institute a guardianship for other reasons, particularly in cases of spendthrifts, or in the presence of such circumstances as shall render it dangerous or impossible to leave a given person without a guardianship.