Opinion ID: 2230457
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the appointment of a temporary guardian in this case.

Text: The guardian ad litem contends that the appointment of the temporary guardian was improper since the requisite findings were not made and the evidence was insufficient to warrant those findings which were made. We first consider whether the findings of the judge were warranted by the evidence. Two witnesses testified at the hearing on the petition for appointment of a temporary guardian. One of them, the medical director at Northampton State Hospital, stated that the ward was determined to be mentally ill in August, 1979, when the ward was first committed to Northampton State Hospital for observation and report following a criminal complaint filed against him for receiving stolen property. At that time he was diagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia, paranoid type. Test results suggested many psychological problems, among them the intense need to present a good front, judgment deficiency, identity problems, anxiety, insecurity, shallow social relations, handling hostilities by making others miserable, egocentricity, low self-esteem, rigid defenses and little tolerance to their being challenged, little learning from experience, poor insight, stubborn attitude, hypersensitivity and the possibility of aggressive behavior. The medical director further stated that the ward's judgment was impaired to the point that he was unable to care for himself properly, and that failure to initiate drug therapy promptly would increase the chance that this mental illness would become chronic. The guardian (the ward's father) testified, among other things, that the ward tended to become violent when communications became difficult, that he had not been acting right since age sixteen, that he had assaulted both of his parents and that he had been very heavily involved in drug abuse while attending private school. The guardian ad litem's report informed the judge that, at the time of the hearing, the ward was again committed to Northampton State Hospital as a result of criminal complaints filed against him charging attempted unarmed robbery and assault and battery. Evidence showed that there would be a four-day interval after the ward's release from the hospital but before the return date of the petition for appointment of a permanent guardian during which the ward would be without benefit of treatment and without the protection of a guardian. Based on this evidence and on other evidence before the court, the judge made the following findings: that the ward was mentally ill; that his judgment was seriously impaired; that he could not make informed decisions with reference to his personal conduct or his financial affairs; that his judgment was impaired to such an extent that if he were released there would be a strong likelihood that he would inflict serious injury upon himself or upon other members of the public; and that there was a necessity for the immediate appointment of a guardian. The judge concluded that, under Rogers I, supra, the guardian would have the inherent authority to make treatment decisions. We think that the evidence more than adequately supported the judge's findings. [4] Furthermore, we feel that the findings, as a matter of law, constituted sufficient support for the appointment of a temporary guardian. General Laws c. 201, § 14, conditions the appointment of a temporary guardian upon a findings that the welfare of a proposed ward requires the immediate appointment of a temporary guardian. The question to be addressed is whether an individual, for whom a guardian is proposed, is so incapable of handling his personal and financial affairs as to warrant the immediate appointment of a temporary guardian. Fazio v. Fazio, 375 Mass. 394, 404 (1978). We think that the evidence and findings did indeed address this question, and that the facts found by the judge were sufficient to enable him to conclude that the ward was in need of the immediate appointment of a guardian. [5]