Kennedy's children become her guardians
Joan Bennett Kennedy's three children sought and were granted legal control of her day-to-day affairs last spring amid her continued struggle with alcoholism, the office of her youngest son, US Representative Patrick Kennedy, revealed yesterday.
The 68-year-old former wife of Senator Edward M. Kennedy has been treated for alcohol abuse several times in the past two years at McLean Hospital in Belmont, said a Kennedy aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Her children decided jointly to seek legal guardianship of their mother to ensure she received appropriate medical treatment and had supervision in daily affairs as routine as running errands. Their application was granted by a Probate Court judge on Cape Cod, the aide said.
''My brother, sister and I love our mother very much," Patrick Kennedy, 37, said in a statement issued on behalf of him, his 43-year-old brother, Edward Kennedy Jr., and his sister, Kara Kennedy Allen, 44.
''She has done so much for us throughout our lives, and we will take whatever steps necessary to ensure she gets the medical treatment and care she needs and deserves. Families across this country struggle to make decisions for the long-term care of their parents each and every day. These decisions are never easy, and in our case, all too early in our mother's life. . . . We will continue to do whatever is necessary to protect our mother and make certain she receives the necessary treatment for her disease, and hope that others will join us in praying for her well-being," the statement said.
A self-described recovering alcoholic, Joan Kennedy has discussed what appeared to be several triumphs over the disease, only to face relapses. In an interview with the Globe published in July 2000, she cast herself as sober for the prior nine years, but was arrested two months later for drunken driving. She received two years' probation. In October 2001, her son's congressional office confirmed she was again seeking treatment for alcoholism at McLean.
Her drinking continued in succeeding years, said the Kennedy aide. Joan Kennedy could not be immediately located for comment. She maintains homes in Boston's Back Bay, as well as on Squaw Island in Hyannis Port.
''The siblings finally said, 'We've got to do something to get the care she needs,' " the aide said.
The Kennedy aide declined to specify details of the guardianship order, Joan Kennedy's current health condition, or what matters the family wanted to oversee. The order was first reported yesterday by WHDH-TV (Channel 7).
Under Massachusetts law, a person is presumed competent and can be placed under guardianship only by a Probate Court after a judge declares an individual to be incompetent.
Robert H. Weber, a Newton lawyer who specializes in guardianship cases and who was the former executive director of the Supreme Judicial Court's Mental Health Legal Advisers Committee, said an adult can be placed under guardianship only if she is deemed to be unable to care for herself because of mental illness, mental retardation, or because she is incapacitated and cannot communicate, such as being in a coma.
''The definition of mental illness for the purpose of guardianship is extremely broad," Weber said. ''It could be any form of mental illness that requires treatment by a mental health professional. It could be anything from depression to schizophrenia to bipolar disorder."
The lawyer said that to gain guardianship, petitioners would need a medical certificate, as well as a court form signed by a psychiatrist who had examined the subject within the previous 30 days and declared the subject to be unable to care for herself by reason of mental illness. The subject would be given notice of the guardianship petition and would have had the right to contest it.
The burden of proof rests with the petitioners, who must be either a parent, two or more relatives or friends of the subject, the Department of Mental Health, or a nonprofit corporation whose charter allows it to act as guardian. They must prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the subject is mentally ill and unable to care for herself. That is especially challenging when the petitioners argue that the subject cannot provide for basic needs, such as food, clothing, or shelter, Weber said.
''There is also a concept of limited guardianship, which could mean, for example, someone with a large estate couldn't handle large amounts of money," the lawyer said. ''It could also be someone who is mentally ill and refuses treatment for the mental illness."
Reared in Bronxville, N.Y., Joan Bennett was the daughter of a prominent Catholic family. At 21, while a student at Manhattanville College in Purchase, N.Y., she met Ted Kennedy, then a young law student. They married in 1958.
The election of Edward Kennedy's brother John F. Kennedy as president in 1960 coincided with the birth of Kara Kennedy, which was followed by births of Ted Jr. in 1961 and Patrick in 1967. In July 1969, while pregnant with another child after two miscarriages, Joan Kennedy stood beside her husband in court a few days after a car he was driving plunged off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island, killing his young female passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne. Joan Kennedy suffered a third miscarriage shortly thereafter.
In 1982, two years after her husband lost a bid for the presidency, Joan Bennett was granted a divorce, with a settlement that reportedly reached $4 million. Senator Kennedy remarried in 1992. Joan Kennedy has not remarried.
David Abel and Sally Jacobs of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Glen Johnson can be reached at johnson@globe.com.
