Social
BGH strengthens the rights of people requiring care
The Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe. photo
© Uli Deck/dpa
Sometimes people need help getting things done for health reasons. They have a say in this – even if their own wishes are not the best way from a third party’s perspective.
“In such a case, despite the need for care of the person concerned and the ongoing need for care, the establishment or expansion of care is excluded,” says a decision published in Karlsruhe.
Specifically, it’s about a woman born in 1985 with Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism. According to information, she has had legal support for financial and insurance issues since 2014. No care was provided for health issues. In September 2022, the supervisor suggested expanding the scope of tasks to include health care. The background was that the social welfare office no longer paid any amounts to the health insurance company due to the woman’s lack of cooperation after she had not released her doctors from their confidentiality obligation on the advice of her mother.
The lower courts followed this. However, from the BGH’s perspective, they failed to recognize that the decision contradicted the woman’s free will. This linked the expansion of the scope of care to include health care to the condition that her mother was appointed as carer. The BGH therefore overturned the Ravensburg Regional Court’s ruling and remanded the matter. (Ref. XII ZB 217/23)