Guardianship and continuing power of attorney

A private person can be appointed as the guardian (private guardian), or the task can be carried out by a public guardian who is not a friend or a family member of the client. This means that you could also serve as the guardian of a person close to you.

A person who meets all legal requirements for the task and has agreed to serve in the task can be appointed as the private guardian. 

A person that does not want to serve as a guardian cannot be appointed to the task.

The suitability is assessed on a case-by-case basis. Such matters as the competence and scope of the task are considered in the assessment. The guardian must have a good personal relationship with the client and be able to look after the client’s interests in an independent and impartial manner. The guardian must be able to act in accordance with the client’s best interests despite the interests of other persons close to the client or the pressure exerted by them.

The guardian is usually a person close to the client. However, the guardian does not need to be a family member of the client.

You can submit a notification to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency of a close person who is in need of guardianship.Opens in a new window. You should explain in the notification why a guardian is needed and describe the problems that the person in question is experiencing in daily affairs. If necessary, the Digital and Population Data Services Agency will obtain a medical certificate on the person in question.

A person close to you may also submit an application for a guardian to the Digital and Population Data Services AgencyOpens in a new window.. This requires that the person understands what the appointment of a guardian means from their perspective. If the person close to you is applying for the appointment of a guardian, they must attach a medical certificate to the application. 

In both cases, a private person or a public guardian may be proposed for the task. If a private person is proposed for the task, the consent given by the person in question must be attached to the application.

A free-form application for the appointment of a guardian can also be submitted to a District Court.

After you have submitted a notification of a close person requiring guardianship, the Digital and Population Data Services Agency will determine whether the person in question needs a guardian. The agency will contact the person in question and ask their opinion, if this is possible considering the state of health. The agency may also ask the opinions of the spouse or children of the person in question or persons that have managed the affairs in the past. The agency may also request information from the enforcement authorities, healthcare and social welfare services, banks and Kela.

If the Digital and Population Data Services Agency concludes that the person in question needs a guardian, it will submit an application for the appointment of a guardian to a District Court.

If the Digital and Population Data Services Agency concludes that the person in question does not need a guardian, it will not submit an application for the appointment of a guardian to a District Court. However, the guardian may still be appointed:

• You can submit a free-form application to a District Court.
• Situations may change and appointing a guardian may become necessary at a later stage. In that case, you should submit a new application.

Before a decision on the guardianship is made, it may be necessary to determine whether there are more flexible options to manage the affairs of the person in question. Read more about alternatives to guardianship on the website of the Digital and Population Data Services AgencyOpens in a new window..

Remember also to check whether the person close to you has unpaid invoices. If so, contact the invoicers and tell them that you are expecting a decision on guardianship and ask them whether they could therefore postpone the invoice due dates. 

If the person close to you has authorised you to manage their affairs using Suomi.fi e-Authorizations, you can continue to do this until the guardian has been appointed. If a guardian is appointed to your loved one at a later time, some of the Suomi.fi e-Authorizations already granted by them may expire. Read more about the mandates of a person under guardianship.