The Guardianship of Joan Bennett Kennedy
According to this Boston Globe article, the three children of Joan Bennett Kennedy -- the 68-year-old ex-wife of Senator Edward Kennedy -- have been named as her guardians. Mrs. Kennedy is not disabled in the traditional sense of the word, but she is evidently an alcoholic. Apparently her children were able to argue successfully that their mother's condition is a mental illness (a requirement under Massachusetts law). Establishing a guardianship for an alcoholic would probably be easier to do in Illinois, where (in section 11a-2 of the Probate Act) the definition of disabled person includes a person who "because of gambling, idleness, debauchery or excessive use of intoxicants or drugs, so spends or wastes his estate as to expose himself or his family to want or suffering."
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