guardianship

n. position or duties of a guardian; protection, guard

A legal guardian is a person who has the legal authority (and the corresponding duty) to care for the personal and property interests of another person, called a ward. Usually, a person has the status of guardian because the ward is incapable of caring for his or her own interests due to infancy, incapacity, or disability. Most countries and states have laws that provide that the parents of a minor child are the legal guardians of that child, and that the parents can designate who shall become the child's legal guardian in the event of their death.
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Noun
1. attention and management implying responsibility for safety; "he is in the care of a bodyguard"
(synonym) care, charge, tutelage
(hypernym) protection
(hyponym) due care, ordinary care, reasonable care
2. the responsibility of a guardian or keeper; "he left his car in my keeping"
(synonym) keeping, safekeeping
(hypernym) duty, responsibility, obligation
(hyponym) hands, custody

(n.)
The office, duty, or care, of a guardian; protection; care; watch.
  

Synonyms and related words:
administration, auspices, captainship, care, chairmanship, charge, cold storage, conservation, convenership, cure, custodianship, custody, dead storage, dictatorship, directorate, directorship, dry storage, eagle eye, foremanship, generalship, governance, government, governorship, guard, guardedness, guidance, handling, hands, headship, intendancy, invigilation, jurisdiction, keeping, leadership, lookout, management, managership, mastership, means of dealing, ministry, monitoring, observance, overseership, oversight, pastorage, pastorate, pastorship, patronage, peeled eye, preservation, presidency, proctoring, proctorship, protectorship, prudence, qui vive, safe hands, safekeeping, sharp eye, shelf-room, sovereignty, stewardship, storage, storage space, stowage, superintendence, superintendency, supervisorship, surveillance, treatment, trust, tutelage, usage, vigil, vigilance, ward, wardenship, wardship, warehousing, wariness, watch, watch and ward, watchful eye, watchfulness, watching, weather eye, wing,