Appointing a substitute guardian

A substitute guardian is required if the guardian is disqualified or cannot perform the guardian’s task.

As the guardian of your adult client, you cannot represent the client in matters such as an estate inventory if the counterparty is yourself, your spouse, your child or another client represented by you. As a guardian, you are also disqualified if the counterparty is one of the following:

your child’s spouse, your spouse’s child, or their spouse
your or your spouse’s grandchild, sibling, parent or grandparent, or the spouse of one of these
a child of one of your siblings or a sibling of one of your parents.

Married spouses and cohabiting partners are both considered to be spouses. Half-relatives are considered to be relatives.

The custodians of a child under the age of 18 will also act as the guardians of their child. As the guardian of a minor, you are disqualified from representing your child in a situation in which the counterparty is yourself, your spouse, your child or another client represented by you.

As a guardian, you are also disqualified if your own interests and the interests of your client conflict in some other way.

In addition, you may be prevented from performing your task due to an illness or a long absence.

A private person or a public guardian may act as a substitute guardian. If you propose a private person to be appointed as your substitute, the person in question must consent to the task in writing. In addition, the person must have sufficient skills for representing the client in the matter concerned. The guardianship authority decides whether the person you propose can act as your substitute.

The matter concerning the substitute guardian will be processed in a written procedure. The processing of your application will be faster if you submit all the necessary attachments at the same time with your application. Attach the written consent of the private person proposed as the substitute to the application and, if necessary, documents related to the intended transaction, such as an estate inventory deed in a distribution of inheritance. If necessary, we will ask you to provide supplementing information.

Do the following

Print and complete the application for appointing a substitute guardian and, if necessary, the consent of the substitute for a private guardian

Complete the application (in Finnish)

Consent form (in Finnish)

The application can also be emailed by using secure mail. Select [email protected] as the recipient in the secure mail.
Submit the signed and scanned application and its attachments to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency by email or by post or take it personally to your nearest Digital and Population Data Services Agency service location.

Checklist

A private person or a public guardian may act as a substitute guardian. The private person must be impartial and have sufficient skills to represent the client in the matter in question. A private person must be requested to give their written consent to the task.
The substitute must apply for a permit for the most important transactions from the client’s point of view.
The substitute’s task ends when the substitute has carried out the transaction included in the task, such as representing the client in the division of inheritance and applying for a permit for it.
Even if no permit needs to be applied for to perform the transaction, the guardian may be disqualified from representing the client.

Price

The appointment of a substitute guardian costs EUR 113 per decision. The fee will not be charged if the applicant’s net annual income, including their social benefits provided in cash, is less than EUR 8,147.

Processing time

The average processing time is four 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.

Links to laws related to the matter

Guardianship Services Act (in Finnish)

Frequently asked questions

The group of relatives that result in the disqualification of the guardian of a minor from the guardian's task is smaller than when the client is an adult. As the guardian of a minor, you are disqualified from performing your duties in a situation in which the counterparty is either yourself or your spouse, your child or another client represented by you. If one of the stakeholders in an estate of a deceased person is your other grown-up child, you are disqualified from acting as a guardian in the division of inheritance.

If grandparents give their property as a gift to their grandchildren, as the custodian of your children you can receive it on their behalf. If, in connection with the gift, you receive the right of possession to the summer house property, the ownership of which is given to your children, you are disqualified. You will then need a substitute guardian to receive the gift on behalf of your children.

Guardianship Services contact information

Email

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

Digital and Population Data Services Agency / Guardianship, PO Box 1001, FI-02151 Espoo

With the exception of property inventories, annual statements and final statements, you can send all post to the Guardianship Service to the address listed above. The three separately specified reports must be mailed to the postal address of the service location responsible for their monitoring.

Telephone number

The telephone service is open 9.00-15.00 on weekdays

Service number +358 295 536 256

Service locations

Addresses of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency’s service location