Recently, the reporter learned from the People's Court of Xuhui District, Shanghai that in order to solve the dilemma of litigation representation for disabled ward under the conflict of interests of guardians, the court innovatively used the independent rights representative mechanism to successfully mediate a legal inheritance dispute case, effectively safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of the elderly. After the death of her husband, Grandma Zhao became a person without civil capacity due to disability. Her daughter Ajie (pseudonym) and son Ahang (pseudonym) are both her guardians. However, the siblings had difficulty reconciling their opinions on their father's estate distribution plan. Ahang, with himself and his disabled mother Zhao Po as plaintiffs, jointly entrusted two lawyers as agents to file a lawsuit against his sister in court. Ajie believes that she and her younger brother are both guardians of their mother and should each hire a lawyer for their mother. However, there has been a dispute between the two parties over the issue of legal representation. In order to implement the principle of being most beneficial to the ward, the hospital entrusted the Women's Federation of Xuhui District to select representatives of elderly rights and interests to appear in court to respond to the lawsuit. The representative participated in the entire process of the trial, including cross examination and debate, independently expressed their opinions, provided a voice for the disabled elderly, analyzed their actual needs, and proposed a plan for dividing the inheritance. The case was ultimately settled through mediation, and the elderly's rights to enjoy their later years were protected. It is reported that in May 2025, in response to the special difficulties in protecting the rights and interests of minors and the elderly in practice, the Xuhui District Court, together with the Xuhui District Law Society, jointly released the "Huiai Future - Guidelines for the Work of the Rights and Interests Representative System". Based on practical exploration, an independent rights and interests representative mechanism will be established, and professionals with legal, psychological or social work backgrounds will be selected to serve as "representatives of the rights and interests of minors" and "representatives of the rights and interests of the elderly". This mechanism standardizes the selection criteria, performance procedures, and supervision rules for rights representatives, specifies the scope of application and intervention standards for rights representatives, and clarifies that this mechanism can be applied in high-risk situations such as conflicts of interest between the guardians of minors and their guardians, or in cases involving elderly people where there is mutual shirking of responsibilities or transfer of property, allowing the "one elderly and one young" litigation rights to be "heard". The people's court establishes an independent mechanism for representing rights and interests, promotes the traditional virtue of respecting the elderly and caring for the young, demonstrates judicial warmth and social responsibility, and enables judicial justice to reach the 'sunset red' and 'youth blue' directly. ”Shanghai Municipal People's Congress representative, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of National Nuclear Power Technology Co., Ltd. Ye Yuanwei commented. At present, this mechanism has been applied in multiple cases, effectively playing a role in safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of the elderly and the young. Zhang Lijun, a representative of the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress, Vice President of Tencent Group, and Vice Chairman of the Xuhui District Federation of Industry and Commerce, said: "The People's Court focuses on the expectations, urgent needs, and needs of 'one elderly and one small', establishes a mechanism for representing rights and interests, accurately fills the gaps in the rights protection of special groups, and praises the innovative measures taken by the court