Legal Guardianship of Minors. Selected Issues

Abstract

The article addresses selected issues concerning legal guardianship of minors in Poland. The study points to the specific nature of legal guardianship and the purpose for which it is established. Legal guardianship results from the legal obligation and involves the exercise of custody of the person for whom it was established. Therefore, it covers the custody over the person, property management and representation of the ward. The appointment of a guardian, i.e. a specific person designated to exercise the custody, should be distinguished from the establishment of guardianship itself. In the process of selection of the guardian by the guardian court, the welfare of the child is the decisive factor. This is the overriding criterion and it comes to the fore of the proceedings. The principle of the child’s welfare also applies to other decisions made by the guardianship court during the guardianship. The article specifically discusses issues whose resolution may raise interpretative doubts. These include, i.a., the guardianship exercised jointly by spouses, the catalogue of negative preconditions excluding the possibility of exercising the guardianship of minors, and the obligation for the guardian to obtain authorisation in all important matters relating to the ward.