How to apply for a guardian for yourself

You can apply for a guardian for yourself if you have reached the age of 18 and are unable to manage your financial affairs due to an illness, deteriorated state of health or other similar reason. Only submit an application in case your affairs cannot be managed using alternatives to guardianship.

You can apply for a guardian to manage

your property and financial affairs for the time being
your property and financial affairs only for a certain period, such as two years
an individual task only, such as the sale of a property or the distribution of inheritance.

Even if a guardian is appointed to manage the client's property and financial affairs, they must also make sure that their client is properly cared for and for arranging such care. If ordinary guardianship is not sufficient to ensure, for example, appropriate care and housing, the guardian may also be appointed to represent their client in matters concerning the client's person, such as deciding on their care. This is only possible if the person is not personally able to understand the matter in question.

You can propose a private person, such as a relative or another person who is close to the person in need of guardianship, as guardian if they give their consent to taking on the task and are suitable for the task. The guardian may also be a public guardian whose full-time job is to manage the financial affairs of several different persons.

Please remember that

the guardian submits an annual statement to us so that we can supervise their activities
the guardian has the right to receive a reasonable fee and compensation for any expenses incurred from the task
a guardian may not disclose information on the client to others without the client’s consent.

Read more about the duties of a guardian.

Do as follows

1. Check whether your affairs could be managed using alternatives to guardianship.

2. Obtain a medical certificate for the appointment of a guardian.

3. If you want a private person as your guardian, ask for their consent to the task.

4. Fill in an application for the appointment of a guardian.

5. Submit the application, the medical certificate and, if necessary, the consent of a private person to us at Digital and Population Data Services Agency / Guardianship Services, P.O. Box 1004, FI-00531 Helsinki.

6. We will process your application and examine your need for guardianship. In addition, we will hear your opinion in person (consultation), primarily by video call, before appointing a guardian. We will contact you to schedule an appointment for your consultation.

7. We will issue a decision on the matter.

In the decision, we will take into account your application, the medical certificate and the matters you have brought up in the consultation.
If guardianship is needed, we will make a positive decision on the matter, i.e., we will appoint a guardian for you.
If guardianship is not needed or if you withdraw your application, we will not appoint you a guardian.

Price

The appointment of a guardian costs EUR 123 per decision.

The fee shall not be charged if the applicant's net income (including different social benefits) is less than EUR 8,147 per year.

Processing time

The average processing time is 6 months.

We process applications in their order of arrival. Processing times are longer when not all necessary reports have been included as attachments.

This is how you get the document:

The guardian may start performing their duties once they have received a positive decision.

Decisions made by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency are sent to Suomi.fi Messages. In this way, you can get notified of the decision as soon as possible. If you do not have access to the service, you will receive the decision by letter. If you wish, you can also receive the documents by encrypted e-mail.

We will send the decision also to the client.

Check that all your details have been entered correctly.

Frequently asked questions

You can send us an application

for changing a fixed-term guardianship to one valid until further notice
for changing the guardian's duties (for example, if the guardian has been appointed to perform an individual task only, but you would like the guardian to manage all affairs).

Fill in the application together with your guardian and obtain a new medical certificate on yourself. Submit the application and medical certificate to us at Digital and Population Data Services Agency / Guardianship Services, P.O. Box 1001, FI-02151 Espoo.

We will hear you during the processing. Finally, we will issue a decision on the matter or, if necessary, submit an application to the District Court, which will issue a decision on the matter.

If the guardian is disqualified or prevented – for example, due to illness or long absence – from performing their duties, they need a substitute. The guardian may be disqualified to represent you, for example, in a property transaction, because the guardian themselves or their child is the other party to the transaction.

Read more about situations when a guardian needs a substitute.