6.6 De Facto Guardian

Who: a person who, without legal appointment, has taken upon himself the care and management of the minor (or the minor's property) — the grandmother rearing the orphan, the uncle managing the child's land; Legal position: possession and care create limited authority — the de facto guardian may do the acts of ordinary care and management; but the major acts (alienation of the ward's immovable property) lie beyond a mere de facto title, which the courts police strictly (transactions in the ward's property require the court's sanction whatever the caretaker's moral standing); Accountability: the de facto guardian answers to the court as any trustee would — self- dealing and mismanagement recoverable; Why the category matters: Nepali family reality — children raised by relatives on informal arrangements; the law protects the child's estate without invalidating the day-to-day care, and offers the regularization route (court appointment converting de facto into de jure).