In re Guardianship of Kowalski
Encyclopedia
| In re Guardianship of Kowalski | ||||||
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Seal of Minnesota Seal of Minnesota The Great Seal of the State of Minnesota is the state seal of the U.S. state of Minnesota.-Symbolism:The settler with his plow is depicted as being on the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls. His gun rests beside a stump signifying that he had given up war in exchange for farming, but was... Minnesota Court of Appeals |
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| Decided December 17, 1991 | ||||||
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| Main Holding | ||||||
| When medical evidence establishes that a mentally incapacitated ward has the capacity to express a preference as to the identity of the ward's guardian, the trial court should give this preference great weight in its guardianship decision. | ||||||
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| Case opinion | ||||||
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| Laws applied | ||||||
| Minnesota Statutes §§ 525.551, 525.59 |
In re Guardianship of Kowalski, 478 N.W.2d 790
Case citation
Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported...
(Minn. Ct. App. 1991), is a Minnesota Court of Appeals
Minnesota Court of Appeals
The Minnesota Court of Appeals is the intermediate appellate court for the state of Minnesota. It began operating on November 1, 1983. It is housed in the Minnesota Judicial Center in St...
case that established a lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
's partner as her legal guardian
Legal guardian
A legal guardian is a person who has the legal authority to care for the personal and property interests of another person, called a ward. Usually, a person has the status of guardian because the ward is incapable of caring for his or her own interests due to infancy, incapacity, or disability...
after she became incapacitated
Capacity (law)
The capacity of both natural and legal persons determines whether they may make binding amendments to their rights, duties and obligations, such as getting married or merging, entering into contracts, making gifts, or writing a valid will...
following an automobile accident. Because the case was contested by Kowalski's parents and family and initially resulted in the partner being excluded for several years from visiting Kowalski, the gay community celebrated the final resolution in favor of the partner as a victory for gay rights.
Facts and prior history
Sharon Kowalski lived with her partner, Karen Thompson, in St. Cloud, MinnesotaSt. Cloud, Minnesota
St. Cloud is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest population center in the state's central region. The population was 65,842 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Stearns County...
for about four years. Though Kowalski's parents were not aware of the relationship at the time, the couple had exchanged rings and named one another as insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
policy beneficiaries. On November 13, 1983, Kowalski suffered severe brain injuries in an automobile accident involving a drunk driver. The injuries left Kowalski with permanent physical disabilities, requiring her to remain in a wheelchair
Wheelchair
A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, designed to be a replacement for walking. The device comes in variations where it is propelled by motors or by the seated occupant turning the rear wheels by hand. Often there are handles behind the seat for someone else to do the pushing...
, and the mental capacity of a four to six year-old child.
Both Thompson and Sharon Kowalski's father, Donald Kowalski, petitioned to be named Sharon Kowalski's legal guardian in March 1984. With the understanding that she would have visitation rights, Thompson agreed that Donald Kowalski would be named Sharon Kowalski's guardian. The court's guardianship order, however, gave Donald complete control over visitation. On July 25, 1985, Donald immediately cut off Thompson's visitation rights and moved Sharon from a nursing home
Nursing home
A nursing home, convalescent home, skilled nursing unit , care home, rest home, or old people's home provides a type of care of residents: it is a place of residence for people who require constant nursing care and have significant deficiencies with activities of daily living...
near Thompson's home to one further away. Thompson appealed the order, but the appellate court affirmed the order initially, citing testimony by Sharon's family and nursing home staff that Sharon seemed depressed and sad after her visits with Thompson and postulating that it would be in Kowalski's best interest to discontinue visitation with Thompson.
At this time, several gay rights and civil liberties
Civil liberties
Civil liberties are rights and freedoms that provide an individual specific rights such as the freedom from slavery and forced labour, freedom from torture and death, the right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, the right to defend one's self, the right to own and bear arms, the right...
groups joined Thompson in her efforts to reacquire visitation rights and acquire the guardianship. Public awareness of the case was increased by local and international attention, including fundraising concerts by lesbian singer and songwriter Ann Reed
Ann Reed
Ann Reed is an American singer-songwriter and guitar player from Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is one of the few women who primarily play the 12-string guitar. Ann has appeared on Good Morning America and on radio shows such as A Prairie Home Companion and The Morning Show on Minnesota Public...
. In May 1988, a federal judge asked specialists to conduct a study of Sharon to determine whether she had sufficient mental capacity to accurately express her wishes in regard to visitation, and, if so, what her wishes were. The Miller-Dwan Medical Center specialists determined that Sharon did have the capacity to do so, and Thompson was allowed to resume limited visitation in January 1989. In March 1989, Thompson published a book about her experience with co-author Dr. Julie Andrzejewski, titled Why Can't Sharon Kowalski Come Home?
Because of his deteriorating health, Donald Kowalski requested that the court appoint a new guardian in late 1988. Thompson filed an uncontested petition to be named Sharon's successor guardian in August 1989. A hearing on the petition was held in August 1990, and the court deferred deciding on the petition until it could conduct an evidentiary hearing, as a Kowalski family friend, Karen Tomberlin, had contacted Sharon's attorney requesting to testify against Thompson's guardianship. At the evidentiary hearing, Thompson called sixteen medical witnesses who testified about Sharon's mental state, her interaction with Thompson, and her preference in regard to visitation. Three witnesses opposed to Thompson's guardianship, Sharon's sister and two family friends including Tomberlin, also testified. The court denied Thompson's petition on April 19, 1991 and named Tomberlin as Sharon's guardian. Thompson appealed.
The case
The Minnesota Court of Appeals begins its analysis by citing the applicable guardianship statuteStatute
A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a state, city, or county. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. The word is often used to distinguish law made by legislative bodies from case law, decided by courts, and regulations...
s, which provided that the court should make a guardianship decision based on the best interests of the ward. "Best interests of the ward" is defined in the statute, but requires the court to consider the reasonable preference of the ward or conservatee if a preference can be determined.
With the statute in mind, the court stated that Sharon Kowalski has stated a clear preference for Thompson to be her guardian, citing the study by the Miller-Dwan specialists. The court noted that the three witnesses opposed to Thompson's appointment were all lay witnesses with no medical training. In regard to Thompson's qualifications to serve as a guardian, the court stated that testimony from multiple witnesses established that Thompson had been loving and caring when dealing with Sharon and was able to take care of her on a day to day basis. Finally, the court also addressed the lower court's concern that Thompson was involving Sharon in multiple gay and lesbian public events (as the case had generated considerable media attention) that her family testified she might not otherwise choose to attend. The court said that the lower court's reliance on this in its guardianship decision was misguided, as the record indicates that Sharon enjoyed these events and even received an award at a National Organization for Women
National Organization for Women
The National Organization for Women is the largest feminist organization in the United States. It was founded in 1966 and has a membership of 500,000 contributing members. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S...
meeting.
The court concluded that while the trial court has wide discretion in guardianship proceedings, the court abused its discretion in this case in denying Thompson's petition against the weight of evidence. The court removed Tomberlin from Sharon Kowalski's guardianship and appointed Thompson in her place.