Defense by incompetent, prisoner, etc. No judgment without a defense shall be entered

against a party then a minor, or confined in a penitentiary, reformatory or any state hospital for the mentally ill, or one adjudged incompetent, or whose physician certifies to the court that the party appears to be mentally incapable of conducting a defense. Such defense shall be by guardian ad litem; but the conservator (and if there is no conservator, the guardian) of a ward or the attorney appearing for a competent party may defend unless the proceeding was brought by or on behalf of such fiduciary or unless the court supersedes such fiduciary by a guardian ad litem appointed in the ward’s interest. [Report 1943; amended by 58GA, ch 152, §199; October 31, 1997, effective January 24, 1998; November 9, 2001, effective February 15, 2002]