Incapacity During Divorce Proceedings
If a person becomes incapacitated during a divorce proceeding, a guardian should be appointed by the Court in order to properly to govern the individual and their property. See Kingsdorf v. Kingsdorf, 351 N.J. Super. 144, 146 (App. Div. 2002).
In order to do so, an application to the Court by the party who wishes to be come the guardian must be made. Generally, when parties are in the midst of divorce litigation, the competent spouse is prohibited from becoming the guardian as it is usually deemed to be a conflict of interest. Upon appointment of a guardian by the Court, the guardian may move forward on the incapacitated spouse’s behalf in order to negotiate and finalize the divorce proceedings. This includes, but is not limited to entering a Property Settlement Agreement and Final Judgment of Divorce. This may even include filing the complaint for divorce on behalf of the incapacitated spouse.
