LA ADMINISTRACIÓN Y LA SUPERVISIÓN DEL PATRIMONIO PROTEGIDO CREADO POR LA LEY 41/2003, DE 18 DE NOVIEMBRE, DE PROTECCIÓN PATRIMONIAL DE LAS PERSONAS CON DISCAPACIDAD.

Abstract

One of the most important new features introduced by Act 41/2003 of 18 November on the protection of the estate of persons with disabilities is to call for a protected estate for the benefit of a disabled person, i.e., a set of assets and rights (having no legal personality of its own) linked to the satisfaction of the living needs of its holder/beneficiary and isolated from the rest of the estate, and subject to a specific administrative and supervisory framework. The appointment of an administrator and the establishment of some rules of administration are vital for the maintenance and improvement of the estate's productivity, with the special consideration that here the purpose of the protected estate is to cover the living needs of its beneficiary. The scope of the administrator's faculties depends on whether or not the beneficiary has sufficient capacity to act for him or herself; inter alia, one leading faculty of an administrator is the power to act as legal representative with regard to the assets comprising the aforesaid estate. The act fails to stipulate, as a measure correlative to the specific administrative framework, that the protected estate may secure its own debts only. This poses an obstacle to the fulfilment of the act's stated purpose of protecting persons with disabilities. Lastly, given the special situation in which persons with disabilities find themselves, it is moreover indispensable to set up a system for supervising the administrator's actions, especially in cases where the beneficiary does not have sufficient capacity to act for him or herself. Such a system should be run by the Public Prosecutor's Office.