Guardianship of RC

72 Cal.App.3d 417 (1977) 140 Cal. Rptr. 133 Guardianship of R.C., a Minor.

JEROME A. LACKNER, as Director, etc., Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

R.C., Defendant and Appellant. Guardianship of R.S., a Minor. JEROME A. LACKNER, as Director, etc., Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

R.S., Defendant and Appellant. Guardianship of M.D., a Minor. JEROME A. LACKNER, as Director, etc., Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

M.D., Defendant and Appellant.

Docket Nos. 39885, 39886, 39887. Court of Appeals of California, First District, Division Four.

August 4, 1977. [418] COUNSEL

Robert Nicco, Public Defender, and Estella W. Dooley, Deputy Public Defender, for Defendants and Appellants.

Evelle J. Younger, Attorney General, John J. Klee, Jr., and Winifred L. Younge, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

OPINION

CHRISTIAN, J.

These appeals are from orders appointing the director of the department of health guardian of the persons of appellants, who are mentally disabled persons.

[419] (1) Appellants contend that the appointment of the Director of Health as guardian of their persons, under section 416 of the Health and Safety Code, deprives them and other developmentally disabled persons similarly situated of the protection the relationship is presumed to provide because a conflict of interest is created. Appellants contend that the appointment of the Director of Health as their guardian reduces the guardian-ward relationship to a mere legal fiction.