I would like to explain an adult guardianship system in Japan.

 The recent survey about the adult guardianship system shows that 55% of respondents would not have any plan to utilize it. The fact is that most people are unconcerned with it.

 However, I think it would be a necessary system for our aging society. In aging societies, the number of people who need some help for exercising their rights will increase. And an adult guardian will represent or support such people by exercising their rights for the sake of them.

 There are two types of the adult guardianship in Japan. One is called statutory guardianship. The other is called voluntary guardianship.  The former is a support system for people who partly or completely lack legal capacity. The latter is a support system for people who have legal capacity and want to provide for the future by making a contract.

 If we would like to use statutory guardianship, we need to make and collect documents which explain the present condition of us. Then we make a statement with the documents to a family court. After the court would make a ruling for commencement of guardianship, the system starts.

 Meanwhile, if we prefer to use voluntary guardianship, we need to make a voluntary guardianship contract with someone we choose. We can decide the content of the contract. The contract should be a notarized document. In the future when guardianship is needed, we make a statement to a family court. After the court would choose a supervisor of the voluntary guardian, the contract becomes effective.

 If you are interested in an adult guardianship system, you can get information by reading websites such as courts in Japan, Japan Federation of Notaries and so on.