Chapter II: Measures for the legal protection of adults

A curator or tutor is appointed for the protected person under the conditions set out in this paragraph and subject to the powers conferred on the family council if it has been constituted.

The curator or tutor is appointed by the judge. The judge may, in consideration of the situation of the protected person, the abilities of the persons concerned and the size of the assets to be administered, appoint several curators or several tutors to jointly exercise the protective measure. Each curator or tutor is deemed, with regard to third parties, to have received from the others the power to carry out…

The designation by a person of one or more persons to perform the duties of curator or guardian in the event that he or she is placed under curatorship or guardianship is binding on the judge, unless the designated person refuses the assignment or is unable to perform it or if the interests of the protected person require that he or she be removed. In the event of difficulty, the…

Failing an appointment made pursuant to Article 448, the judge shall appoint, as curator or guardian, the spouse of the protected person, the partner with whom he or she has entered into a civil solidarity pact or his or her cohabiting partner, unless life together has ceased between them or some other cause prevents him or her from being entrusted with the measure. Failing an appointment made pursuant to the…

When no family member or close relative can take on the guardianship or tutorship, the judge shall appoint a judicial representative for the protection of adults from the list provided for in article L. 471-2 du code de l’action sociale et des familles. This representative may not refuse to carry out any urgent acts required by the interests of the protected person, in particular protective acts essential to the preservation…

If justified by the interests of the person accommodated or cared for in a healthcare establishment or in a social or medico-social establishment, the judge may appoint, as curator or guardian, a person or service in charge of the establishment registered on the list of legal representatives for the protection of adults under 1° or 3° of article L. 471-2 of the Code de l’action sociale et des familles, who…

Curatorship and guardianship are personal charges. However, curators and guardians may, under their own responsibility, enlist the assistance of third parties who are adults and not subject to a legal protection measure to perform certain acts, the list of which is set by decree in the Conseil d’Etat.

No one is obliged to retain curatorship or guardianship of a person beyond five years, with the exception of the spouse, partner in a civil solidarity pact and children of the person concerned, as well as judicial representatives for the protection of adults.