A few days ago, after many efforts, both public and legal, the court in Los Angeles accepted the claim of Britney Spears To cancel the guardianship given to her father, the same one that allowed him complete control over her life. The guardianship arrangement lasted for nearly 14 years, and its long-awaited cancellation was received after only after a long and complicated legal battle that intensified following the broadcast of the documentary “Release Britney Spears.”
The excited star who went free thanked all those who fought for her and wrote on her Instagram page: “God, I love my fans so much. I think I’m going to cry all day with happiness. It’s definitely the happiest day of my life.” Matthew Rosengart, Her lawyer, updated that the guardianship had come to fruition without the need for a psychological assessment and later assured that: “The aim is to continue to assist Britney at any time and on any subject.”
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It is frightening to imagine, but the institution of guardianship and custody has also existed in Israel in a similar format since the 1960s. From those years until today, by virtue of that archaic law, adult people in Israel – just like Britney Spears – find themselves in a reality in which a person appointed as their guardian controls all their property, health and personal affairs – almost unsupervised. Generally, even though the Guardianship Law stipulates that the person appointed as a guardian must be involved in the management of his affairs and his well-being must be maintained – the golem is up to its creator. The one in charge becomes almost God’s deputy, and the power given to him, as we know from other areas of our lives, is used for evil.
In order to try to prevent such cases, in 2018 the privatization of the State of Israel’s guardianship system began by allowing the issuance and signing of a continuing power of attorney in which an adult and qualified person can determine in advance who will be responsible for his property, health and personal affairs. This process is supposed to increase the personal autonomy of the individual, who will choose for himself who will be responsible for his own affairs if and when he loses his abilities. When there is no such signed document apply to a court from which a close person (as in the case of Spears) or a company specializing in guardianship. In both cases, ostensibly, the procedure should be supervised.
Not to be confused: In all cases, even when a foreign person is appointed, even when a close person is appointed in accordance with a court ruling, and even when the appointment is by virtue of a continuing power of attorney, the Family Court should be there. The role of the justice system is to check, monitor and ensure that the well-being of the person whose kosher status has been expropriated – whether he is an elderly person with dementia and Alzheimer’s or an adult who is no longer able to manage his affairs – is maintained. But it does not happen. In no case.
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Examining the well-being of people for whom others are responsible, people who are minors and have parents or adults who can no longer take care of themselves – is the responsibility of the authorities. However, as in other similar areas, the state with its many authorities (police, welfare and courts) is unable to perform what is required of it by law. The system is fundamentally interested in doing good – but when its promotion is based on irrelevant, formal and insubstantial parameters (such as how many cases the judge or social worker closed, how long it took from the case to close, how many appeals and so on) – we all get a public system that sins We all name her by her name.
And not only that, the fact that cases conducted in the Family Court in Israel are confidential unless the court has ruled otherwise creates another problem. Confidentiality prevents proper supervision of guardianship processes, leaving the issue in public darkness. This fact creates a relative preference for signing a continuing power of attorney, a procedure that is not confidential.
To avoid cases like that of Britney Spears, it would be good for all of us if we privately settled the question of who would take care of us if and when we were not qualified and given clear instructions: we would sign an ongoing power of attorney to determine who would be in charge. The ability to manage our business, we will keep neat lists in writing on various topics and more. To protect ourselves we should do everything we can not to reach the public system which may be opaque to all of us, from small to Britney Spears.
** Adv. Arthur Shani is a partner in the firm of A. Zisman Shani, which deals with family law, guardianship and continuing power of attorney.