The psychiatrist as legal guardian

Most discussions about legal guardianship pertain to special populations, such as the mentally retarded or demented. Except for the case of refusal of antipsychotic medication, little has been written about using guardianship to authorize nonemergency treatment for a person who is mentally ill and treatable. The authors present several cases in which a consulting or administrative psychiatrist served as a temporary guardian for a hospitalized patient's personal affairs. The psychiatrist-guardian authorized diagnostic procedures or ECT for the temporarily incompetent patient and was then discharged as guardian. The authors discuss the problems and limitations of such a role for the psychiatrist.