With the aging population, the issues of guardianship and property disposal for the elderly with dementia are becoming increasingly prominent. Many people believe that since they are the guardians of the elderly, they naturally have the right to dispose of the real estate in the name of the elderly, selling it or giving it away as they wish. This understanding is seriously mistaken; the guardians' right to dispose of property is strictly limited by law, and it is not the case that having guardianship rights allows for arbitrary disposal of the major property of the ward.

  Article 35, Paragraph 1 of the Civil Code explicitly stipulates: Guardians shall perform their guardianship duties in accordance with the principle of utmost benefit to the ward. Guardians may not dispose of the ward's property except for the purpose of maintaining the ward's interests. This provision delineates the core boundary of the guardians' right to dispose of property —— disposal actions must be for the sole purpose of maintaining the ward's interests, and any disposal beyond this is illegal.

  Specifically regarding the disposal of real estate, a major financial asset, the answer is very clear: guardians cannot arbitrarily dispose of the real estate of the elderly with dementia directly. They can only legally dispose of it under necessary circumstances to maintain the elderly person's interests.

  Then, what constitutes “for the benefit of the ward”? In judicial practice, it mainly includes the following situations: first, if the elderly person is suffering from a major illness, requiring substantial medical and nursing expenses, and the deposits and other assets in the name of the elderly person are insufficient to pay, selling the house becomes a necessary means to ensure treatment; second, to improve the elderly person's living and elderly care conditions, replacing with more suitable elderly care housing; third, to pay for the necessary expenses of long-term care and elderly care institutions, there is a real need for conversion.

  To determine whether the disposal is legal, it is also necessary to examine the necessity and proportionality principles. If the elderly person has sufficient savings and retirement benefits to pay for the relevant expenses, there is no need to sell the house, and guardians may not arbitrarily dispose of the property under the name of “treatment and elderly care”; if other small amounts of property can be used to resolve the issue, the core asset of the property should not be used.

  Conversely, the following situations all constitute illegal disposal: guardians giving the elderly person's property to themselves or their relatives without compensation, selling it to friends at aObvious low price, using the proceeds from the sale of the property for their own use, using the elderly person's property as collateral for their own debts, etc. These actions directly harm the property rights of the ward, and related contracts may be declared invalid. Other interested parties have the right to sue for restoration of the original state and compensation for losses, and in serious cases, may apply for the revocation of the guardianship qualifications.

  In practice, it is also necessary to note that before disposing of the real estate of the elderly with dementia, it is usually necessary to apply to the court to declare the elderly person as an incompetent person or a person with limited civil capacity, and have the court appoint a guardian in accordance with the law. After completing the statutory procedures, the guardian will have a legitimate agent identity. Even so, when handling the transfer of real estate, many registration departments will require the provision of relevant proof materials showing that the disposal action is for the benefit of the ward.
   Lawyers remind that being a guardian means responsibility rather than rights. The disposal of major property of the elderly with dementia must be handled with extreme caution, ensuring that the purpose is legitimate, the method is reasonable, and the accounts are clear. It is necessary to seek the opinions of other close relatives or accept supervision when necessary. The original intention of the guardianship system is to protect the vulnerable, and it must not become a legitimate cloak forInvade the elderly person's property.