Show guardianship OF CHILDREN il iii legal leffett and toral the law Lawi pol of outs loo tates tc risk I 1 by american press assuchy ut una there are arc several kinds of guardians of tile the law firstly there are tho the parents who are tho the natural guardians guird ians of the children then other near relatives vi a ho may take charge of a child when its parents die and who may come coine to be recognized recognize il as the legal 6 guardians then ture are guardians whom tho the father or inether may appoint by will to tc have charge of the person or property or both bolh of 0 a child ar or if such euch appointment has not been made it will be made by the surrogate where a certain amount of property is i concerned and there are arc temporary guardians appointed by order of it a court or judge in in a legal proc proceeding to represent some one who is too young to appear in person and to look after his interests A guardian who has the he personal care of a child is called the guardian of the lie person and one who lias has charge of the property is the guardian of the estate the court may separate the two guardian ships and ap api A int nt different guardians the duty of tile guardian is to manage tho the affairs anti property of liis his ward to the best of liis his ability and when the term of the expires by the infant attaining his majority or otherwise to give an account of ilia his administration and of all property lie lias has had in his diab lia Is illnois ili Mi nois or infants are all persons under the of 21 except that in a i tew few of tho states women are of age at 18 but there is a distinction made fit at it an infant over the lie a age ge of ll 11 can have a voice in ia choosing liis his cardian guardian ian and can in some cases sue site or bo be sued in his own name when there are notices or papers paper of any land kind to be served upon the parties to a legal proceeding the infants must lie ile served as well as others and in the case of infants under I 1 11 I 1 tv two 0 copies of each cadi paper must be served one upon the parent or guardian and one personally upon the child itself even in the case cake of a child too young not only to understand or to read but brit oven even to notice the paper this double service must ile be made and a copy of the paper put into its b hands ands a rule which strikes one as amu amusing sin g but the theory is that the younger t the I 1 ie child the more protection it needs there is certainly still a degree of in injustice to women in the laws relating to the control of their children and the appointment of guardians for them in the greater power given to the father although the childrens interests are as aa safe fe frequently safer in the hands bands of the mother than of the father in a few of the states in iowa for example the father and mother ar are a joint natural guardians and upon the death of one the other becomes sole gal guardian ardian generally however the father may appoint by will any ono one whom he be chooses to be guardian of the child not only at if the property which allen ahen the property prop property efty comes from the father does docs not wm rem unreasonable atonable but of the person aa these appointments however may be set aside by the surrogate and an opportunity is given to the mo theror other friends of tho the child to petition the court to appoint someone some one elc else e if proof cart can be brought that the person named is not a suitable guardian the judge will disregard the appointment and make another when an infant is made a party to any litigation or has an interest in the settlement of an estate a special guardian most be appointed bythe by the court in which the case is ia being tried or by the surrogate ate to represent liis his or her interest this person is sometimes called the next friend in actions in the surrogates court lie he is called the special guar guardian and in the supreme court and other courts the guardian ad litcy litem guardian in respect to the strife ilia his authority and duties do not extend beyond the particular mat matter ver as to which ho he is appointed and when that is settled they are at an end it is ia usual though it may not be always necessary to appoint a lawyer if the parents are interested in any way in the same matter neither of them can be this guardian ad litem laitem nor can any one else who is a party nor any one who is ia acting as attorney for any of them it must be some one who has no inter cit of any kind opposed to that of the infant whom chont lie represents in this matter of the appointment of guardians by law there is apt alit to be some misunderstanding A mother is is ery cry likely to feel aggrieved that any one but herself or some one of her choosing should bo be the childs guardian and to regard it as a caprice capace and a piece of injustice on the part of the law because no one could have the childs interests more at heart than his mother this is true in an overwhelming majority of cases but what the law has in view here is justice to the child thorn there are such things as parents who would choose their own advantage before their childrens where interests cl clashed ached and nil the law or the judges cannot make the intimate personal acquaintance of each parent keeping in mind the possible contingency the best that can bo be done is ia to appoint tomo some one who will have no temptation to do anything but his best for the infant there may be cases in which the parent has no interest opposed to that of tile child and in which ho he can act as aa tho the guardian ad litcy litem as in a recent action where a boy had been beau injured on a railroad and the father appeared and sued the company the theory of the law in regard to minors is that the is an individual with rights of his own in which ho he is ia to bo W protected even against his parents if necessary and that it is ia the duty of the community of which he forms part to so protect him it is pointed out by herbert spencer in some recently published mays essays on justice that this view marks an un immense advance in civilization from thu tho state of society in which pa parents rents had ouch ench absolute control of their children that they could sell them or even kill them without accounting to anybody y X HELES FRASER FRABER LOVETT |