Support for family and professional guardians
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- Support for managing the ward’s affairs
If you have any questions or need help, we’re here for you.
How does KBC help guardians?
Being a family or professional guardian is not always a simple matter. It’s imperative that you take good financial care of the ward and do so within the guidelines issued by the justice of the peace.
KBC ensures that everything is taken care of, so that you can focus on performing your financial duties correctly and with peace of mind. This involves taking account of the ward’s situation and the decisions of the justice of the peace. For example, we can provide model petition forms to enable you to apply for the appropriate authorisations for yourself and the ward.
If you’d like to find out more about saving and investing for the ward, an adviser will be happy to set aside time to talk to you and, with your input, come up with a tailored proposal that complies with the court order.
What is guardianship?
When a person is no longer capable, either fully or partially, of making their own decisions or properly managing their property, the justice of the peace can appoint a guardian who will either help the ward make decisions or who will make their own decisions.
The justice of the peace can either appoint someone from the family or an independent professional guardian, usually a lawyer. The person himself/herself, the family or other stakeholders can submit an application for guardianship to the justice of the peace.
Learn more at the Federal Public Service for Justice. You can find more information for family guardians in the King Baudouin Foundation’s practical guide for family guardians, which deals with general questions on a range of matters, including the procedure, the implications and your duties.
What steps are involved in the process?
1. As soon as it is determined that an adult is no longer sufficiently competent to make the decisions necessary for their own care and/or property, a justice of the peace can declare them legally incompetent for certain matters and appoint a guardian. That guardian will either represent the ward or provide assistance in performing the legal acts specified by the justice of the peace.
2. The court order issued by the justice of the peace must be sent to KBC.
3. Based on this order, the appointed guardian will be registered in KBC's systems and, where necessary, assets/products blocked and/or access to them denied to the ward.
4. The ward's KBC branch will be informed of the action taken and is responsible for registering the guardian’s power of attorney.
5. If necessary, the guardian will be contacted by KBC to discuss the transactions that may still be carried out and whether there’s a possibility to, for instance, open a pocket money account or set up an online banking facility.
FAQs
KBC cancels access for the ward, blocks the accounts whose funds cannot be freely disposed of pursuant to the court order and registers a power of attorney for the guardian.
The guardian may allow the ward to have a pocket money account and the ward may usually dispose of the funds on it as they wish. The guardian ensures that funds go into this account.
A guardian may sometimes allow a ward access to a debit card. Be sure to contact the branch for assistance when applying for the card.
In some cases, you may decide to allow the ward access to online banking. A KBC employee can advise you on this matter and explain exactly what it entails.
Guardians may make investments for wards under their guardianship if permitted by the court order issued by the justice of the peace (or by any subsequent authorisations granted by the justice of the peace).
Investments are allowed in most cases, though they are usually limited to less risky, defensive products.
To protect the assets of a person under guardianship, KBC’s standard practice is to impose a number of restrictions on investments:
• when drawing up the ward’s investment profile, the risk preference may not exceed ‘defensive’
• investment products are required to have a product rating of 1 to a maximum of 3 (except when the portfolio risk preference and/or investment risk preference – after authorisation has been granted by the justice of the peace – exceptionally exceeds ‘defensive’)
• sales of existing investments are only allowed if the proceeds are reinvested defensively or placed in a blocked account in the name of the ward
• all investments must be placed in a blocked custody account in the name of the ward .
Deviating from these principles is not possible unless it is permitted in the court order or the justice of the peace grants a separate authorisation. You can obtain a standard model petition for this purpose from your branch.
The same rules apply to entities with joint ownership of property and partnerships that involve the ward.
In such situations, we only assess the guardian’s knowledge of the product.
Ongoing loans and insurance policies are examined together with the guardian. Sometimes they have to be changed or ended, sometimes they just keep running.
New contracts may also be concluded under certain conditions insofar as this is permitted by the court order or an authorisation granted by the justice of the peace.
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If you have any questions or need help, we’re here for you.