Wards of court
There are two categories of wards
Adults who have been brought into wardship because of mental incapacity.
Minors (persons under eighteen years of age) who are taken into wardship as for particular reasons. In some cases it may be necessary for minors to be brought into wardship as minors e.g. where damages have been awarded to a person under eighteen years of age who has special housing, medical or other needs.
When the minor comes to age 18 and if they have full capacity, they may apply to the President of the High Court for payment out to him of any of his funds in court.
A distinction must be made between the above and a person under eighteen years of age who is awarded damages. In that case the money is paid into court and invested on his behalf until he reaches the age of eighteen. The fact that this is done does NOT make him a ward of court.
Wardship
The stated principal purpose of wardship is to protect the property of the ward and to manage it for his benefit and that of his dependants (if he has any). When a person has been taken into Wardship, it means that the President of the High Court is satisfied, on the basis of the medical evidence available to him, that the person should be deemed to be of unsound mind and is incapable of managing his affairs.
Procedure
There are various circumstances in which Wardship Proceedings may commence – for example, a person may have a neurological event such as a stroke which has left them mentally incapicated, a person may sustain a brain injury sustained in an accident, a person may have an intellectual disability or it may be a person with dementia or Alzheimers Disease.
If a person considers that there are grounds for someone being made a ward of court that person should instruct a solicitor to take the necessary steps in this regard. Alternatively, if he does not wish to be involved in the application himself, he should write to the Registrar of wards of court asking that proceedings be instituted.
Managing the Ward’s affairs
When a person is taken into wardship the Court appoints a committee to manage the wards affairs.
The Committee means the person(s) to whom the affairs of a ward of court are committed. The committee is therefore the person appointed by the President of the High Court to act on behalf of the ward. The committee can only do what the court authorises him to do, a committee has no inherent authority or power. Typically, a committee will be authorised by the court to carry out such functions as collecting a ward’s pension, letting his farm or selling his house and managing the day to day affairs of the Ward.
Costs
What happens to a ward's property?
General
Money which is lodged in court for a ward is invested by the Courts Service on their behalf.
Where the ward is living at home periodical payments can be made on a regular basis to the committee or to the person with whom the ward is residing to meet his living expenses. The level and frequency of payments will, of course, depend upon the ward’s
needs and income and this is a matter which the committee should discuss in detail with the case officer. From time to time additional payments may be needed for clothing, holidays etc. and again the committee should write to the case officer in this regard. If a ward is in a nursing home or hospital, the staff may write directly to the Office of Wards of Court with regard to these expenses.
People who provide services e.g. contractors or workmen can also be paid but the committee should obtain the prior approval of the court before incurring expenses so as to remove any doubt about having those expenses repaid or being reimbursed if he pays the expenses himself.