How the tutorship council functions

Regardless of whether they are a parent (legal tutor) or dative tutor, the tutor is not allowed to be a member of the tutorship council.

A tutorship council is usually made up of three members appointed by the court. Two replacements ("alternates") are usually appointed at the same time. Being a member of a tutorship council is a purely personal responsibility: if you die, your heirs are under no obligation. You must also perform this duty free of charge.

Tutorship council
with only one member

The tutorship council may comprise only one person if the mother and father so request or if the court decides accordingly. Where the council has only one member, this person also acts as secretary.

Secretary

The secretary may be one of the three members of the tutorship council or someone else. They may receive remuneration suggested by the meeting of relatives and approved by the court. The secretary takes the minutes of the meetings and looks after these records.

Meetings

Meetings may be held using any means that allows all the members to communicate with each other instantly (e.g. conference call).

The tutorship council is required to meet at least once a year. If your council has three members, the quorum is two. You are obliged to invite the legal or dative tutor to all your meetings in order to ask their opinion. If you wish, you may also invite the child.

Decisions

Decisions are made by majority vote. These decisions are subject to review by the court, for valid reasons, at the request of the tutor or any person with an interest in the child. The application must be filed within 10 days of the decision.

Looking after the documents

The secretary of the tutorship council is responsible for looking after all documents relating to the child's tutorship and for giving them to:

the child, when they reach majority or are emancipated;
the child's heirs, if the child dies;
the new tutorship council, where applicable;
the child's tutor or curator if, at the age of 18, the child is unable to look after themselves and is placed under legal protective supervision for persons of full age.