A trustee steps in to offer voluntary help for individuals who, for various reasons,
have problems managing their daily lives, paying their bills, or taking proper care of
their hygiene. The person who is appointed as a trustee is often a relative or close
friend. If there is no-one close to the person in question, the welfare authorities can
appoint a trustee. Trusteeship is a mild form of guardianship, in which the client—
the person declared incompetent—still has control over his or her assets and
decisions are made in consultation with the trustee.
Guardianship is a stricter form of control, in which the client is relieved of the
authority to handle his or her own money or to make decisions regarding various
matters. The exact wording states that the guardian shall take over all of the
client’s legal powers. In Sweden approximately 4,000 people are under
guardianship. The most common reason for a guardianship is mental illness or
mental illness in conjunction with heavy abuse of alcohol or drugs. A smaller group
includes those suffering from dementia. Many of the individuals under
guardianship are relatively young—thirty-five or less. One of them was Lisbeth
Salander.
Taking away a person’s control of her own life—meaning her bank account—is one
of the greatest infringements a democracy can impose, especially when it applies
to young people. It is an infringement even if the intent may be perceived as
benign and socially valid. Questions of guardianship are therefore potentially
sensitive political issues, and are protected by rigorous regulations and controlled
by the Guardianship Agency. This agency comes under the county administrative
board and is controlled, in turn, by the Parliamentary Ombudsman.
For the most part the Guardianship Agency carries out its activities under difficult
conditions. But considering the sensitive issues handled by the authorities,
remarkably few complaints or scandals are ever reported in the media.
Occasionally there are reports that charges have been brought against some
trustee or guardian who has misappropriated funds or sold his client’s co-op
apartment and stuffed the proceeds into his own pockets. That those cases are
relatively rare may be the result of two things: the authorities are carrying out their
jobs in a satisfactory manner, or the clients have no opportunity to complain and in
a credible way make themselves heard by the media or by the authorities.
The Guardianship Agency is bound to conduct an annual review to see whether
any cause exists for revoking a guardianship. Since Salander persisted in her refusal
to submit to psychiatric examination—she would not even exchange a polite