As a guardian, you will need permission for example to carry out the following actions which are significant with regard to your client:
- the sale or purchase of a dwelling or right-of-occupancy
- the sale or purchase of real property
- division of property and distribution of an inheritance, if the estate of the deceased has not appointed an estate distributor.
- pledging property as collateral and taking out a loan.
As a guardian, you will need a permit for the purchase and sale of a detached house on a rented lot, as well as for leases that will be entered into for more than five years at a time such as leases for farmland. The sale of forest will require a permit when the sale in question has not been included in a previously approved forest plan.
You will also need a permit for the renunciation of an inheritance or a will. The lending of a client’s assets is always subject to a permit.
Pursuing business and the acquisition of certain investment items are also subject to a permit. However, you will not need a permit for conventional investment items such as the acquisition of Finnish or ETA listed stocks or investment fund shares unless the fund in question is a specialised investment fund.
Before making any decisions concerning the tasks you are charged with, ask for your client's opinion, if it is important to do so and the hearing can be arranged with significant difficulty. However, a hearing will not be necessary, if your client is unable to understand the meaning or significance of the action. We recommend that you apply for a permit for an action in advance. However, you will need to attach a draft of your plan for the intended action, which means that a permit application process cannot be set in motion without a plan. We can also approve the implemented action after the fact, if it is in the interest of your client. However, the implemented action will not obligate your client before a permit has been issued.
This is what to do
Submit the signed and scanned application and its attachments to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency by secure email or by post or take it personally to your nearest Digital and Population Data Services Agency service location.
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The processing of your permit application will be faster if you submit all the necessary attachments at the same time with your application. Where necessary, we will ask you for supplementary data.
We will send any request for supplementary data electronically to the Suomi.fi Messages service or via email, by post as a letter or by phone.
Check list
- Consider whether the planned action will benefit your client.
- Discuss the matter with your client and find out their opinion on the matter, if the client is able to understand the significance of the matter.
- Check whether you need a permit for the planned action.
- Check that you have all the necessary attachments for the permit application. You will also need to attach a draft of the document for which you are seeking a permit. The attachments to the application may be copies.
- Make sure that you are not disqualified as a guardian in carrying out the planned action. If you yourself or your close relative is a party the action, you will need to apply for a substitute guardian.
Price
The price for a decision concerning the division of property or distribution of inheritance will be determined by the size of the net worth that is being divided.
When the divided net worth is
• at most 85,000 euros, the decision will cost 184 euros
• 85,000 – 170,000 euros, the decision will cost 324 euros
• more than 170,001 euros, the decision will cost 444 euros.
The price of the other permit decisions and the decision confirming the property management plan is 184 euros.
Processing period
Our goal is to handle the permissions of sale urgently. Otherwise the average processing time is two months.
As a rule, cases are processed in their order of arrival. In individual cases, the processing time may be less or more than this depending on the size and complexity of the matter. Processing times are longer when not all necessary reports have been included as attachments to the application.
Key concepts
Guardian
A person who has been appointed by the decision of a district court or the Digital and Population Data Services Agency to manage a client’s financial and wealth-related affairs. A minor’s parents or other persons who hold custody of the minor are directly under law the minor’s guardians.
Public guardian
A government official, whose official duties comprise the performance of guardianship duties
Client
A person the management of whose financial affairs the guardian is charged with
Guardianship authority
Digital and Population Data Services Agency Guardianship Services
Action
A legal action, for example the sale of property, the distribution of an inheritance, leasing, the purchase of a dwelling or real property.
Frequently asked questions
Our agency’s tasks include the supervision of a guardian’s activities. As part of our application supervision, we will check whether the intended action will benefit the client and ensure that it will not result in economic hardship for the client. The performed action will not obligate the client before a permit decision is in force.
You will need a permit for example to carry out the following actions which are significant with regard to your client. These include, for example, the purchase or sale of a dwelling or real property, the distribution of inheritance and taking out a loan. Section 34 of the Guardianship Services Act lists all the actions that require the permission of the guardianship authority. For example, you may sell your client's car or other movable property, such as furniture, without permission. However, take into consideration that you may be disqualified in performing this action as guardian even if you do not need a permit. In this case, you will need a substitute guardian to act in your place.
It is recommended that permits be applied for in advance, but you can also submit an application for an action that has already been implemented. However, the implemented action will not obligate the client before a permit has been issued. As guardian, you are liable for any damages your client experiences.
In order for us to process your application, we will need a draft of the document on the action for the implementation of which you are applying for a permit. For example, if you are applying for a permit to sell a dwelling, you must attach a draft of the deed to the application.
You are disqualified from selling your client’s property, if you or your close relative is the party purchasing the property. In this case, you will need a substitute guardian to act in your place.
The client’s opinion is determined in connection with the permit application, when an adult client understands the significance and meaning of the matter or the client is a minor who is 15 years old or older. The client can present their opinion into the section reserved for this on the permit application or in free form. Where necessary, we will ask the client to provide more information on the matter.
You will need a draft of your plan for the intended action. Other necessary attachments will be determined on the basis of what the intended action is. For example, in the case of selling a dwelling or real property, you will also need an appraisal of the property’s sales price, and. in matters related to loans, you will need the loan documents and a calculation of ability to pay from your bank.
As a rule, the sales price is the fair value of the dwelling or real property. An assessment on the value of the sold or purchased property must be attached to the application. This assessment includes, for example, the appraised value given by a real property agent.
No, as a guardian, you may not donate your client’s property. The prohibition on donations is unconditional and applies to gifts of all values. The client can themselves give a gift, if they understand the meaning of the donation and show initiative in giving it.
If the continuing power of attorney has been confirmed with regard to the management of financial and property-related affairs, you can sell the donor’s movable property without a permit. An apartment is movable property. You may only sell the donor’s real property under continuing power of attorney, if the power of attorney separately specifies that it also covers actions related to real property or immovable property.
If you lease your client’s dwelling for a period longer that five years with a fixed-term lease, you will need a permit to do so. No permit is needed for leases that are valid for the time being. Because you are leasing the dwelling to your own child, you are disqualified from acting as guardian to your client in this matter. You must apply for a substitute guardian to act in your place, who will sign the lease on behalf of your client. In addition, the rent paid must be consistent with fair market value even when the tenant is a relative.
As their guardian, you cannot borrow your client’s money yourself, because as a party to the loan you will be disqualified. In this case you will have to apply for a substitute guardian to act in your place. In addition, you will need a permit from the guardianship authority to borrow money. The condition for granting the permit is generally that a security approved by financial institutions is set for the debt and a payment plan is drawn up for the repayment of the debt.
You will not need a permit for the acquisition of the most conventional investment items. You will not need a permit to invest your client’s assets for example in listed stock or shares of UCITS funds in Finland or the ETA, unless the fund in question is a specialised investment fund (non-UCITS). Turn first and foremost to your bank for assistance, if you want to know whether an investment item will require a permit it not.
A child under the age of 18 is receiving an inheritance, Why do I and my partner as the guardians of our child need to apply for a permit to distribute an inheritance?
A guardian cannot relinquish right of possession on behalf of their client free of charge. A monetary value must be calculated for the right of possession, which the widow(er) will receive as compensation for relinquishing right of possession. You can use the tax administration’s calculation formula in your calculations. You need not apply for a permit for relinquishing right of possession.
As a rule, cases are processed in their order of arrival. In individual cases, the processing time may be shorter or longer than expected depending on the number of matters and the complexity of the matter. The processing time will be longer, if we have to wait for more reports related to the case from the applicant or a third party.
A decision by the guardianship authority can be appealed to an administrative court. For more detailed instructions and the contact information for the competent administrative court, please see the appeal document attached to the decision.
Guardianship Services contact information
When sending an email, please use the Digital and Population Data Services Agency’s secure email to ensure that your information is sent securely. Select [email protected] as the recipient in the secure mail
Send the email as a secure email
Postal address
Property inventories, annual statements and final statements must be sent to the postal address of the service location.
All other post to the Guardianship Service must be sent to the address:
Digital and Population Data Services Agency / Guardianship, PO Box 1001, FI-02151 Espoo
Telephone number
The telephone service is open 9.00-12.00 on weekdays
Service number +358 295 536 256
Service locations
Addresses of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency’s service location
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