Putting a life back in order

The law provides for support administration for people who, because of an illness or a physical or mental impairment, are unable, even partially or temporarily, to look after their own interests (Art. 404 of the Civil Code). Unlike interdiction, the measure does not entail a general incapacity to act: the administrator acts only in the matters specified by the guardianship judge in the appointment order (Art. 405 of the Civil Code), while in all other matters the beneficiary keeps his or her autonomy (Art. 409 of the Civil Code). In the abstract it is therefore a light-touch measure; in practice it can require long and patient reconstruction work.

Recently the guardianship judge appointed me support administrator of a lady living in a residential care home. Others had held the appointment before me.

Suspended benefits

The most urgent problem concerned INPS, the Italian social security institute. For several months it had stopped paying the civil incapacity pension, the ordinary disability allowance and the attendance allowance. For a person who lives on those sums, such a suspension is not a mere hitch: it means being unable to pay the care home that houses her.

I wrote to INPS by certified e-mail (PEC), enclosing the appointment order, the necessary documents and the details of the dedicated account, and asked for payments to be restored and the arrears paid. Payments resumed regularly and the instalments accrued in the meantime were paid out.

Fees to be settled

For some time, moreover, the beneficiary’s share of the care-home fees had not been paid, and the debt to the home kept growing. I reconstructed what was owed period by period, taking into account the reduction obtained through the ISEE certificate, the Italian means-test indicator, and, as soon as the arrears arrived, I paid off the backlog and brought current payments up to date.

Care

The last issue had nothing to do with money. The lady needed medical care: I booked a first appointment and followed the start of the prescribed treatment.

Managing a person’s property means, first of all, taking care of the person.

Needs and aspirations: the rule in Art. 410

In performing the role, the administrator must take into account “the needs and aspirations of the beneficiary” and promptly inform the beneficiary of the acts to be performed (Art. 410 of the Civil Code). This is the criterion that guides every choice. For the rest, the law applies certain rules on guardianship, insofar as they are compatible (Art. 411 of the Civil Code): every year the administrator reports on the management to the guardianship judge, on the basis of regular accounts (Art. 380 of the Civil Code); the office is unpaid, but a fair allowance may be granted, taking into account the size of the estate and the difficulty of the administration (Art. 379 of the Civil Code).

Practical advice

From this experience I draw a few suggestions, useful to family members and professionals alike:

• send the appointment order immediately to INPS, the bank or Poste Italiane, and the care home;
• run all income and expenses through a dedicated account and keep every receipt, because the annual account is built day by day;
• report to the guardianship judge as often as the order requires and obtain the judge’s authorisation before performing acts that need it;
• never lose sight of the person’s health and daily life, which are the very reason for the appointment.

I set all this out for the judge in a report: the benefits had been restored, the fees settled and the care started.