There are three types of protective supervision offered to people of full age: advisers to persons of full age, curatorship and tutorship. Tutorship is much more flexible than curatorship because tutorship adapts to the person’s degree of incapacity. As a rule, tutorship is available to people suffering from a temporary (e.g.: prolonged hospitalization following a serious car crash) or partial incapacity (e.g.: a person suffering from mild deficiencies but who demonstrates a certain level of autonomy).

Tutorship is always created in the best interests of the incapacitated person of full age. It is meant to ensure the protection of his person, administer his patrimony and help him exercise his civil rights.

If a person of full age is partially incapable, tutorship allows the person to maintain a certain degree of autonomy. This means that the person can exercise his civil rights and manage his property as long as he capable of expressing his wishes.

Tutorship can be to the person or to property, or both, depending on the needs of the person of full age.

A tutor is not paid for his work unless the court decides otherwise.

There are two types of tutorship, private and public. Private tutorship is done by a member of the family of the adult, or by someone close to him. If no one close to the adult can be a tutor, the court names an employee of the Public Curator to act as the tutor to the person for as long as is necessary.

A private tutor is responsible for the person’s moral and physical well-being, taking into account his condition, needs and faculties and other aspects of the situation. Among other duties, a private tutor is responsible for:

• the person’s custody and maintenance. He can delegate this responsibility to a residence, hospital, or any other centre where the person lives;
  
• maintaining a personal relationship with the person of full age under tutorship;
  
• obtaining the person’s opinion in all matters pertaining to him;
  
• ensuring the review of the tutorship every three years.

The tutor has the simple administration of a person of full age’s property. “Simple” administration means that the tutor does not have total control. The tutorship judgment determines the tutor’s powers as well as which acts the person of full age can accomplish on his own.

As a general rule, private tutors to a person of full age are responsible for maintaining the patrimony of a person of full age, for making sound investments, and for rendering an account when the person of full age becomes fully capable.

The tutorship council assists the tutor in his role as administrator. This council oversees the tutor’s actions. The council usually consists of three people appointed by a group of relatives and/or friends. When a tutorship council exists, some actions are not to be undertaken solely by the tutor. For example, the tutor cannot hypothecate (mortgage) the property of a person of full age nor can he sell the valuable property or borrow without getting permission from the tutorship council first.

The court can appoint anyone with a close relationship to the person of full age (parents, family, friends) to act as his tutor. The tutor must be 18 years or older and capable of exercising his civil rights. One exception exists: a minor emancipated by marriage or by the court may be appointed as tutor.

Furthermore, a person living outside the country may be appointed as a tutor. In these cases, the foreign tutor is bound by the same rules as a person who lives here.

The law imposes obligations on tutors to persons of full age. Here are a few:

• make an inventory of the property to be administered within sixty (60) days of the beginning of the tutorship;
  
• provide a security deposit or obtain insurance if the value of the property to be administered exceeds $ 25,000;
  
• account for the property each year;
  
• obtain, from the tutorship council or the court, the opinions and authorizations required by law;
  
• render a final account when the tutorship ends.

Usually, if a person of full age under tutorship does a legal act alone when his tutor should have represented him, that act cannot be annulled (cancelled). To cancel it, you must be able to prove that the act caused the protected person some kind of prejudice (harm).

An act executed before the tutorship was instituted can also be cancelled or the resulting obligations reduced if you can prove that the person’s incapacity was notorious or that the other contracting party already knew about it when the act occurred.

The role of the Public Curator is to inform the private tutor of his duties and responsibilities towards the person of full age whom he represents. As soon as the tutor is appointed, the Public Curator sends him a guidebook explaining his role, responsibilities, and all the obligations that he must fulfill.

Also, the Public Curator oversees the management of the tutorship. The Public Curator can intervene on any point that concerns the incapacitated person of full age, especially when protective supervision first begins. The Public Curator also examines the tutor’s inventories, reports, and accounts.

If the Public Curator notices any irregularities in the tutor’s administration, he invites the tutor to correct the situation. If the tutor performs his duties poorly, the Public Curator can request the dismissal of the tutor. The tutorship council or any other interested person can also request this dismissal.

Tutorship to a person of full age ends when the person is no longer incapacitated, or if the protected person dies.