Having Guardianship over a parent and medical care
<p>Imagine an adult child is given guardianship over his/her senile parent. Can the adult child force the parent to see a doctor against the parent's will?</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Imagine an adult child is given guardianship over his/her senile
parent. Can the adult child force the parent to see a doctor against
the parent's will?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yes. A court appointed guardian can almost always force a parent-ward to see a doctor against the parent's will. (The term &quot;ward&quot; means a person over whom a guardian has authority.)</p>
<p>A court has the authority to enter a guardianship order that specifically deprives a guardian of that power, but grants other powers over the person of the ward but this almost never, if ever, happens.</p>
<p>Also, keep in mind that courts can appoint &quot;conservators&quot; for people who are incapacitated to some extent, which gives the conservator authority over the protected person's property but not over their person.</p>
<p>The unqualified term &quot;guardian&quot; however, in contrast, for example, to a &quot;guardian ad litem&quot; who only looks after a person's interests in connection with a particular court case, has authority over the person and physical well begin of the ward.</p>
<p>Finally, it is worth noting that a medical power of attorney agent of a person is not a guardian of a person and does not have this authority without being appointed as a guardian of the person by a court.</p>

united-states medical family-law new-jersey guardianship