Practices of public guardianship offices
Public guardians and public guardianship secretaries working at a public guardianship office deal with clients’ affairs in accordance with a decision issued by a court or the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. Their tasks mainly concern clients’ financial affairs.
The practices of the public guardianship offices are described in more detail in the service pledge and in the Handbook on Public Guardianship Services.
Service promise
The public guardianship development committee has prepared a service promise to which all legal aid and guardianship districts have committed.
Being a customer of the guardianship office
- You can meet your guardian within two weeks, at the latest, after the start of the guardianship, unless otherwise agreed.
- Together, we plan and negotiate how the guardianship shall be implemented, which things you need support for, which things you can handle yourself and which are to be left to the guardian to manage. If you want, you can get the plan in writing.
How this will be conducted:- The guardianship office personnel are there for you and, after being contacted once, will without delay begin handling your matter at the guardianship office
- Important decisions will not be made without your input
- You will receive information about your matters before the guardianship and you decide to whom your information can be disclosed
- Your self-determination remains unaffected.
- We are, for our own part, responsible for your financial matters but we will not unnecessarily limit your life.
How this will be conducted:- We take care of the bills agreed, apply for the benefits you are entitled to, make sure that your rights are realised
- Together, we negotiate the amount of spending money within your own finances and we deliver it to you according to the agreement
- We look after your property so that it provides a reasonable profit and the whole thing is safe.
- The operations are monitored to ensure your legal safety.
How this will be conducted:- A guardianship authority reviews the annual account the guardian has compiled on the management of your affairs and decides whether the guardian can carry out bigger legal acts on your behalf, such as selling an apartment
- You can contact the guardianship authority if you suspect that a guardian is not acting in your best interest
- We use a variety of methods to self-monitor our operations at the guardianship office.
- We assess the need for guardianship regularly
How this will be conducted:- Your guardianship will only remain valid for as long as it is necessary to secure your best interests
- Once the guardianship has become unnecessary, your guardian will assist you when you cancel your guardianship
- The guardianship authority assesses the need for guardianship once every four years.
The Handbook on Public Guardianship
The Handbook on Public Guardianship describes the operations, principles and values of public guardianship. It contains the collected recommendations on how public guardianship services should be provided so that they protect the clients’ interests in the best possible manner.
The handbook (available in Finnish and Swedish) has been prepared on the basis of the committee’s statements and recommendations.
Public guardianship development committee
The Public guardianship development committee has operated in 2009-2024. The committee was appointed by the Ministry of Justice. Its purpose has been to provide, based on the problems and questions raised, interpretation and action recommendations on the principles and uniform methods of public guardianship that concern the management of clients’ affairs.
Among other things, the working group has prepared The Handbook on Public Guardianship and a service promise.
Read Questions to the Public guardianship development committee and the committee’s answers in 2013-2022 VN 1394/2019, pdf (in Finnish)