Information for doctors, authorities and other parties

A person can submit an application themselves for the appointment of a guardian when they want to have a guardian and other means of managing matters are no longer sufficient. In this case, the person acts as the applicant and must understand the significance of the matter concerning the appointment of a guardian. The applicant may use an assistant to submit the application, but the person acting as the applicant must be in favour of the application and feel that it necessary that a guardian be appointed for them.

When a person sends an application themselves, the applicant must provide us with a medical opinion prepared for the appointment of a guardian.

In connection with your application, we will consult the applicant personally using a remote connection. At this time, the applicant may withdraw the application they have submitted to us if they so wish.

If a person cannot or does not wish to act as an applicant in the matter, anyone can submit a notification of a person in need of guardianship to us. Read more about submitting a notification and about other options that are lighter than guardianship on our website.

As a rule, we process cases in the order of arrival. The average processing times can be found on our website.

You must submit a medical opinion to the assignee, as they must submit it to us as an attachment to the application. Therefore, do not submit the opinion to us, but give it to the assignee.

According to section 24 of the Continuing Power of Attorney Act, the assignee must show us the original power of attorney and a medical opinion or other comparable reliable statement that the assignor has become unable to take care of the matters to which the power of attorney applies due to illness, deteriorated health or other similar reasons.

Notwithstanding secrecy provisions, the assignee is entitled to receive a medical opinion to determine whether the assignor has become incapable of taking care of the matters covered by the power of attorney in the manner referred to in the Act.

You can ask the assignee to show you the power of attorney before issuing the statement so that you can check

• who has been appointed assignee in the power of attorney
• what are the matters to which their power of attorney applies.

You can use our existing template (in Finnish) or give a free-form opinion.

Save the pdf form on your computer before filling it in.

You can use our existing template (in Finnish) or give a free-form opinion.

Save the pdf form on your computer before filling it in.

You must provide the person in question a medical opinion on their health if it is related to applying for or terminating of guardianship.

We will not always ask for this statement, but the client candidate may request it for themself.

Please also remember to assess whether you are disqualified from issuing a statement.

We can only appoint a substitute to guardians of a minor when:

• the child has two guardians and they apply for a substitute together
• the child has one guardian who applies for a substitute.

If a minor has two guardians but they do not apply for a substitute together, it is a good idea to apply for a substitute directly from the court. The court may only appoint a substitute guardian on the basis of an application from one guardian or when the matter is initiated by a body referred to in section 6 of the Social Welfare Act (710/1982 (in Finnish)).

Please note that the Act on Child Maintenance has been amended, and now a child's guardian can also represent the child when the other guardian of the child is the other party to the case, if the child lives with one of their parents.

According to section 22 of the Child Welfare Act, in a child welfare matter, a guardian must be appointed to use the minor's right to speak instead of the guardian who holds custody if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the guardian holding custody cannot objectively supervise the interests of the minor in the matter. In addition, the appointment of a guardian must be necessary for the investigation of the matter or otherwise to safeguard the interests of a minor.

As a rule, a guardian is appointed by the court. The application can be submitted to the court

• by the body responsible for social welfare
• by a guardian themself
• by us, in our role as the guardianship authority.

We can only appoint a guardian for a minor when the guardians who hold custody and the body responsible for social welfare apply for it together. Only submit an application to us in these situations.

As a rule, consent is not sufficient. The guardians must act specifically as applicants in the matter.

However, guardians may issue a power of attorney to the social welfare authority, which entitles the social welfare authority to represent the guardians as applicants. In this case, you can submit the application to us.

As a rule, a minor’s parents or other persons who hold custody of the minor will act as the minor’s guardians.

If one of a minor’s guardians has died, the other guardian will continue in the task alone. Therefore, there is usually no need for a separate guardianship order.

When a minor is left completely without a guardian, for example when their only guardian dies, the task of the social welfare services is

• to determine whether the minor needs a guardian, and
• If necessary, to submit an application on this matter to the District Court.

If a guardian is assigned to a minor, the guardian in charge of custody, this person also automatically becomes the guardian of the minor in other matters.

If a minor does not need a guardian to hold custody like in a situation where a minor will soon become an adult but needs a guardian for other matters, social services may also submit an application directly to the District Court in these instances.

Sale of housing share

As a rule, the assignee need not apply for permission from us for the sale of a housing share.

The assignee must apply for permission from us only in the case where the power of attorney has so stipulated.

Sale of real estate

The assignee may sell a property if the assignor has thus ordered in the power of attorney.

However, the assignee may not sell the property if this is not specifically specified in the power of attorney. If the power of attorney does not include a provision on this, the assignee must submit an application to us or the District Court for a guardian to handle the sale of the property. Once a guardian has been appointed, they must apply for permission from us for the sale of the property.

Note: A guardian always needs a permit from us for the sale of a housing share and property.

The stakeholders in the estate will manage all matters related to the estate together. Bills addressed to the estate can be paid from the estate’s bank account. This will not require permission.

When the guardian of a minor child represents his or her child in the management of the estate, he or she does not need a permit or a substitute to pay bills.

Changing the terms of a loan and changing the terms for the surrender of a pledge will require permission from us if the terms and conditions are changed more than what was agreed in the original contract.

You can contact us as a representative of a company or association if you are organising an event related to these matters. We can work together to look into and agree on whether we can organise the training.

We have made a short illustrative video on the power of attorney that can be utilised.