Reports of an 88-year-old man in Shanghai appointing a fruit-seller near his home as his legal guardian and deciding to bequeath his apartment worth 3 million yuan ($455,781) to the fruit seller has caught many people's attention, triggering a heated discussion on voluntary guardianship.

The octogenarian surnamed Ma lives alone following the death of his wife and son. His relatives seldom contact him. They didn't turn up even when his son died. A middle-aged man surnamed You, who sells fruits near Ma's home, was the only person who stood by the old man, arranging for his son's funeral. Later, he was the one who rushed Ma to hospital and looked after him when he fell down and lapsed into coma.

Ma then invited You and his family to come and stay with him and accorded him voluntary guardianship, under which You is entitled to take care of and deal with Ma's legal rights whenever Ma loses his judgment capacity.

The concept of voluntary guardianship, respecting an adult's will to decide his or her guardian, emerged after the implementation of the General Rules of the Civil Law on Oct 1, 2017. Apart from respecting individuals' legal rights and personal will, it also provides solutions to the eldercare issue, which is of great significance in an aging society like China.

As aging becomes a serious problem in China in recent years, there are more elderly people than before, with questions arising on how to care for and support them in later years. Voluntary guardianship provides an answer to the question, helping the elderly citizens, who are often not cared for by their own relatives.

The guardianship contract guarantees the legal rights and interests of both the person under guardianship as well as the appointed guardian, while also addressing the eldercare issue.