A Welfare Guardian is appointed by the Family Court when somebody has totally lost their mental capacity. A Welfare Guardian’s primary and principal concern is to promote and protect the interests and welfare of this person.

A Welfare Guardian has a duty to consult with medical professionals associated with the incapacitated person as well as their family members.  There are some decisions that cannot be made by a Welfare Guardian.  A Welfare Guardian cannot:

  • make any decision relating to entering the subject person into marriage or civil union or to dissolve a marriage or civil union;
  • make any decision relating to the adoption of any child of the subject person;
  • refuse to consent to the giving of any standard medical treatment or procedure intended to save the subject person’s life, or to prevent serious damage to their health;
  • consent to the administering to the subject person of electro-convulsive treatment;
  • consent to the performance on the subject person of any surgery or treatment designed to destroy any part of the brain or any brain function or change that person’s behaviour;
  • consent to the subject person taking part in any medical experiment other than one conducted for the purposes of saving the subject person’s life or preventing serious damage to their health. 

Leading law firms committed to helping clients cost-effectively will have a range of fixed-price Initial Consultations to suit most people’s needs in quickly learning what their options are.




Shaun Cousins
Family Lawyer
Wellington