The district court initiates the procedure to appoint a guardian on its own initiative (ex officio), since the situation cannot remain as it is. A guardian must be appointed for a minor child.

Notification of death

If a parent dies and leaves behind one or more minor children, the registrar of births, marriages and deaths informs the district court of this.

Investigating parental authority

The district court checks the gezagsregister (Parental Authority Register) to determine whether the child is still under the parental authority of another parent. If that is not the case, the district court checks:

• whether a guardian has been designated;
• whether there is another parent who does not have parental authority

Seeking a solution

Is there no one who has legal parental authority over the child? In that case, the district court will ask the Raad voor de Kinderbescherming (Child Care and Protection Board) (in Dutch) (kinderbescherming.nl) to investigate.

The Raad voor de Kinderbescherming contacts the parties directly involved (uncles, aunts, grandparents) to discuss the situation.

In consultation with the family, the Raad voor de Kinderbescherming suggests who could be appointed as the guardian. This does not always have to be a natural person, but may also be a legal entity (guardianship institution).

Acceptance

No one is forced to accept appointment as guardian. If the guardian is willing to accept the appointment, they must submit a declaration of willingness to the registry of the district court. The guardianship begins as soon as the guardian has made the declaration of guardianship.

Refusal

If the guardian refuses the appointment, the judge may summon all the parties involved to attend a hearing. See step 2.

Notice to attend a hearing

The district court summons all the parties involved to attend a hearing on the guardianship. In most cases, these parties are:

• the family(-ies) of the minor children;
  
• the designated guardian(s), in accordance with the will of the deceased parent(s) and/or in accordance with the gezagsregister;
• optionally: a non-legal parent (partner of the deceased parent with parental authority);
• optionally: the other parent, who does not have parental authority.

The parties involved will receive a written notice to attend a hearing. The notice will state where (location) and when (date) the guardianship hearing will take place.

Hearing

During the hearing, the judge will question family members and other parties involved. The judge will also seek advice from the Raad voor de Kinderbescherming.

The district court sends a letter to children aged between 12 and 18, requesting them to attend an interview. The child's conversation with the judge takes about 10 minutes. During the interview, the judge asks for the child's opinion on the guardianship. If the child is under 12, the children's judge is not obliged to hear the child, but may decide to do so. The child is not obliged to attend, however. A letter can be sent instead.

• Interview with the child (in Dutch)
• Child interview brochure (in Dutch) (pdf, 221,5 KB) (pdf, 236.8 KB)

There are various possibilities. The judge may grant parental authority to a:

Guardian

The judge will appoint the most suitable guardian. The judge will decide who is the most suitable guardian based on the information from the hearing, the interview with the child and any advice from the Raad voor de Kinderbescherming. This decision will be made in the best interests of the child.

Other parent (who does not currently have parental authority)

Is a non-legal parent suitable to be a guardian, but there is another parent who does not currently have parental authority? In that case, the judge will grant parental authority to that other parent if this is in the best interests of the child. The parent without parental authority must then apply for parental authority.

Guardianship institution

If no one is suitable to be a guardian, parental authority over the minor child will be granted to a guardianship institution. That institution will seek a foster family for the child or help them to live independently.