Guardianship and custody

Guardianship and custody of children are the most traditional forms of family arrangement.

Guardianship is established over children under the age of 14 years, and custody is established over minors aged 14 to 18 years.

Despite the fact that the guardian performs his duties free of charge, he is not obliged to support the child under his care at his own expense. For the maintenance of the warded child, the guardian receives monthly funds.

The guardian has the right and the obligation to raise the child, to take care of his physical development and training. It is important that the guardian can create the necessary living conditions for the ward, provide proper care and treatment, protect, if necessary, the rights and legitimate interests of the child. The guardian shall not prevent the child from communicating with his or her parents and other close relatives if such communication is in the best interests  of the child. Several children may be assigned one guardian if their interests are not in conflict. The guardian and the child under guardianship must live together.

Purposes of guardianship

Guardianship and custody is established for the upbringing of orphans and children left without parental care, as well as for the protection of personal non-property and property rights and legitimate interests of these children.

Who can become a guardian

A guardian must be an adult citizen,

- without a criminal record for premeditated crimes, who has not previously been convicted of premeditated grave or especially grave crimes against a person;

- not suffering from chronic alcoholism, drug addiction, substance abuse; not having diseases that impede the performance of the functions of a guardian, caretaker (the list of diseases in the presence of which persons cannot be guardians and caretakers is established by the Resolution of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Belarus of 15.12.2017 No. 108);

- not deprived by the court of parental rights;

- not recognized by the court as incapable or partially capable;

- not removed from the duties of a guardian, caretaker, adoptive parent for improper performance of the assigned duties, as well as one whose children were not recognized as in need of state protection.

How to become a guardian

If you want to become a guardian, you must:

Step 1.

Submit to the management (department) of education at the place of residence:

application;

passport, or other personal credenticals;

autobiography of the candidate for guardianship;

medical certificates about the state of your health, as well as that of the members of your family;

one photo measuring 30 x 40 mm;

marriage certificate (if married);

written consent of adult family members living with you;

documents confirming the absence of the child's parents or the presence of other grounds for the appointment of guardianship (care);

written consent of the parents (sole parent) to appoint a guardian (caretaker) to the child - in the case of establishing guardianship (care) over a child whose parents cannot perform parental duties for valid reasons (business trip, illness, etc.);

written permission to establish guardianship (care) of the competent body of the state, the citizen of which is a child living (staying) in the territory of the Republic of Belarus (in case of establishment of international guardianship in respect of a foreigner's child).

Step 2.

Within a month, the department of education will make appropriate requests to institutions and organizations that have information about your legal capacity to be a guardian, caretaker, study the way of life and traditions of your family, interpersonal relationships in the family, assess the readiness of all members of your family to meet the basic life needs of the child, and make a conclusion about whether you can become a guardian.

Step 3.

You will be able to get acquainted with the future ward of the child in the direction of department of education. Specialists of the institution in which the child is located will acquaint you with the history of the child, his state of health and other information that is important for the child and for you.

Step 4.

If, as a result of acquaintance with the child, you have established contact, and you have decided to accept this child into your family, you need to contact the department of education with an application for the establishment of custody of this child.

Step 5.

From the moment of adoption of the decision of the guardianship and custody authority on the appointment of you as the guardian of the child, you fulfill the rights and duties of the guardian. Based on the decision of the guardianship and custody authority, you will be able to pick up the child from the institution in which he is located.

CONCLUSION.

You need to know that your ward will be registered in the department of education at the place of residence, from the date of establishment of guardianship until the age of majority of the child or until the decision is made to release you from the duties of a guardian. You can be released from the duties of a guardian for various reasons: when adopting a child, when returning a child to parents for upbringing. You can also be released from the duties of a guardian at your personal request, if the guardianship and custody authority recognizes that this request is caused by valid reasons.

"Guardianship - love and care"

Perhaps the most widespread form of family children left without parental care today in our country is the guardian family. More than 8,000 children who have lost their families of origin are being raised in guardian families.

What is guardianship? Why is it needed? When should you think about it?

Guardianship differs from other forms of temporary family placement of children (foster family, family-type orphanage) in that the guardians are doing it for free. For fulfilling the duties of raising a child, managing his property, protecting their personal legitimate interests, the guardian does not receive monetary compensation. It is understandable, that not everyone is able to take on the heavy burden of education and refuse to get paid for this work.

So, let's say you know that something happened in some family you know (the child does not live with his parents and they shy away from the responsibilities of raising him; parents are absent for a long time (more than 6 months); parents are sick, etc.), and the child runs the risk of being left without parents for a long time and, as a result, getting into an orphanage, and you would really like to help him. Perhaps you visited an orphanage on the Open Day, you were in the audience at a concert by children from an orphanage, you met your child during charity events or you saw information about the child on the www.dadomu.by portal.

It is also possible that you realize that you could accept an unknown child into your family. But ... ..Adoption is too serious a step for which you are not ready. The work of a foster parent, parent-educator of a family-type orphanage is not at all what you dreamed of. In addition, you have a favorite job that brings a good income, why the unnecessary changes? But you really want to help the child, even if not for a long time - until the parents take them back or they get adopted by those who can afford it, or until the child grows up and no longer needs help. In this case, guardianship is exactly the way in which you can move forward and really be helpful to the child.

You can become a guardian of a child if you

- are not handicapped,

- do not suffer from chronic alcoholism, drug addiction, substance abuse;

- your health allows you to fully exercise the rights and perform the duties of a guardian, caretaker and this is confirmed by the results of a medical certificate on the state of health (you do not have diseases included in the List of diseases in the presence of which persons cannot be guardians and caretakers, established by the Resolution of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Belarus of December 15, 2017 No. 108),

- You were not deprived of parental rights by the court,

- you have not previously adopted a child and subsequently been suspended from the role of an adoptive parent due to improper performance of the duties of the adoptive parent, you have not been suspended from the duties of a guardian or caretaker for improper performance of the duties assigned to you,

- You do not have a criminal record for premeditated crimes, have not been convicted of premeditated grave and especially grave crimes against a person,

- Your children were not recognized as in need of state protection in connection with the failure or improper performance by you of your duties for the upbringing and support of children.

 

You should know that from the moment you become a legal guardian you are granted certain rights.

You have the right to independently determine the ways of raising a child under guardianship, guardianship, taking into account the opinion of the child and the recommendations of the guardianship and custody authority. Taking into account the opinion of the child, you have the right to choose the institution of education and the form of education of the child before receiving general secondary education and are obliged to ensure that the child receives general basic education.

You do not have the right to prevent the child from communicating with parents and other close relatives, except in cases where such communication is not in the interests of the child. Communication of wards with parents deprived of parental rights is carried out on the basis of the permission of the guardianship and custody authority agreed with the guardians (custodians), which indicates the time, place and duration of communication. Disputes, if they arise, are resolved by the guardianship and custody authority. You have the right to demand the return of wards from any persons holding them without legal grounds.

It would be surprising if the guardian were given the right not to be assigned certain responsibilities. Therefore, as a guardian, you are obliged to live together with your underage wards. In some cases, the guardianship and custody authority may give permission for the separation of the guardian from the ward who has reached the age of 14, if the separation does not adversely affect the upbringing and protection of the rights and interests of the ward.

When changing the place of residence of the ward (both within the territory of the Republic of Belarus and outside it), the guardians are obliged to inform the Department of Education at the place of residence in writing.

Guardians are the legal representatives of the wards and make all necessary transactions on their behalf and in their interests. Guardians of minors between the ages of 14 and 18 consent to the commission of those transactions that, according to the law, the minor is not entitled to make independently.

The guardian shall not have the right, without the prior permission of the guardianship and custody authority, to perform, and the trustee - to give consent to the commission of transactions on alienation, including the exchange or donation of the property of the ward, its lease, gratuitous use or pledge; transactions entailing the waiver of the rights belonging to the ward, the division of his property or the separation of shares from it, as well as any other transactions entailing a decrease in the property of the ward.

The guardian, custodian, their spouses and close relatives shall not have the right to make transactions with the ward, except for the transfer of property to the ward as a gift or for gratuitous use, as well as to represent the ward when concluding transactions or conducting court cases between the ward and the spouse of the guardian or custodian and their close relatives.

Guardians (custodians) are obliged to organize communication of the child with candidates for adoptive parents who have received a referral to get acquainted with the child in the manner prescribed by the legislation of the Republic of Belarus, by prior agreement with them on the time and place of meeting with the child*.

* In respect of minors left without parental care and persons under guardianship (custody) who are not related to them, adoption is allowed in the general order.

Do not hesitate to ask questions to the specialist of the education department. Questions should be the most versatile, relating to the state of health, the nature of the child, his characteristics, his previous history, his property status, your task will be to realize the right of the ward to housing, or take care of the existing, or in its absence to take care of the registration of the child in need of improving housing conditions and much more.

In addition, the specialists of the Department of Education monitor the activities of guardians. Such control may be carried out on behalf of the Department of Education and by specialists of the local socio-pedagogical institution or educational institution visited by the child under guardianship. The purpose of such control is to monitor the development of the child, supervision of the safety of the property of the ward, the provision of psychological, pedagogical and other assistance. Control examinations of the living conditions of wards are carried out at least 2 times a year.

We would like to note that, despite the voluntary nature of guardianship, guardians are not obliged to maintain persons under their care at their own expense. In this regard, monthly maintenance payments are assigned to minor wards, as well as utility costs being compensated, etc. (Regulations on state provision of orphans, children left without parental care, persons from among orphans and children left without parental care, children in institutions that prevent neglect and juvenile delinquency, approved by a resolution of the Council of Ministers.  of the Republic of Belarus of July 6, 2006 No. 840)

 

In which cases guardianship is terminated:

These cases are:

- the ward reaches the age of 18 years;

- the ward enters into marriage, if it is in accordance with the established procedure of reduced age of marriage;

- the ward is declared fully capable (emancipation).

The decision of the local executive and administrative body (district administration in the city) on the termination of guardianship in these cases is not required.

In addition, there are grounds for exempting guardians (caretakers) from performing their duties (Article 167 of the Code of the Republic of Belarus on Marriage and family):

- adoption of wards;

- Return of children to their parents for upbringing;

- at the request of the parents, if guardianship (care) over children is established at their request or with their consent;

- Provision of state support to children in children's boarding schools, institutions of vocational, secondary special, higher education;

- recognition of the guardian, (caretakers) as incapable or partially capable;

- the guardian, caretaker is suffering from diseases included in the List of diseases,in the presence of which persons cannot be guardians and caretakers, established by the Resolution of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Belarus of December 15, 2017 No. 108;

- personal request of the guardian, caretakers in the presence of valid reasons (illness of the guardian or caretaker, change in the composition of the family, material conditions, lack of necessary contact with the ward, moving to another location for permanent residence, etc.).

In this case, the decision of the local executive and administrative body (district administration in the city) on the termination of guardianship is made.

Through the fault of theguardian, he may be suspended from performing his duties (Article 168 of the Code of the Republic of Belarus on Marriage and Family).

- improper performance by the guardian or caretaker of the duties assigned to him;

- deprivation of a guardian, caretaker of parental rights or recognition of their children in need of state protection;

- commission by a guardian, caretaker of an intentional crime established by a court verdict that has entered into legal force;

- the use of guardianship by the guardian for personal gain, as well as in the case of leaving the ward without supervision and necessary assistance.

In this case, the decision of the local executive and administrative body (district administration in the city) is made.

The issues of establishing guardianship (care) are regulated in Articles32-36 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Belarus,  Chapter 14 (Articles 142-168)of the Marriage Code of the Republic ofBelarus and  sevene,the Regulations on the procedure for organizing work on the establishment and implementation of guardianship (care) over minor children, approved by the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus No. 637 of 20.05.2006.

The procedure for establishing international guardianship (care) is regulated in the Regulations on the procedure for international adoption and establishment, approved by the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus No. 122 of 31.01.2007.