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Guardianship and the conditions thereof in Kuwaiti Law

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Guardianship is over a minor child who has not reached the age of majority, whether he is conscious or not. It is divided into two parts: guardianship of the person and guardianship of the estate. The guardianship of money and self together return to the father, and in the absence of the father, it returns to the consanguine grandfather. In the absence of the father or the consanguine grandfather, guardianship over the person is separated from guardianship over the estate, so guardianship over the estate turns into the legal ward, and guardianship remains over the person only, which then goes back to the close relatives according to their arrangement with regard to inheritance from the minor child, provided that he is one of the Mahrams (Non-marriageable relatives). When there are multiple eligible persons of guardianship, and they are equal, the Court has the right to choose the most suitable of them. If there is no eligible one, the Court appoints the righteous from others, in accordance with Article (209) of the Kuwaiti Personal Status Law.

As stipulated in Article (110) of the Kuwaiti Civil Code stipulates: “Guardianship of the minor child’s money shall be given to his father, then to the guardian chosen by the father, then to the paternal grandfather, and then to the guardian appointed by the Court, taking into account the provisions of Article 112. Additionally, the father or grandfather shall not withdraw from the guardianship without an acceptable excuse.”

What is the difference between guardianship of the person and guardianship of the estate?

  • Guardianship of the Person: Supervising the personal affairs of the minor, taking care of him physically and psychologically, and disciplining and correcting his behavior among other matters.
  • Guardianship of the Estate: Supervising the minor’s financial affairs, including regulating his expenses and disposing of his property by buying or selling.

Guardianship Conditions:

The Kuwaiti Law sets controls for guardianship over the minor child, including that the guardian shall be sane and adult and shall be the closest to him in the consanguinity, such as the order of inheritance: son, father, brother, uncle, then mother. If the aforementioned persons cannot be found in their order, the guardianship case shall be transferred to the judge to consider it and appoint a guardian for the minor to manage his affairs, taking into account the interests of the minor. Knowing that a stranger shall not be a guardian except with the guardianship of the father, grandfather, or the judge. Additionally, the father or grandfather may not waive guardianship while they are alive without a legal basis.

Case of Revocation of Guardianship

There are many judicial procedures followed in the case of revoking the guardianship, as the Kuwaiti family law attorney of the guardianship case presents evidence and proof of the corruption of the guardian’s morals, betrayal, or mismanagement of the minor’s financial or moral affairs, and then the judge may decide to dismiss him and terminate the guardianship. The case for guardianship revocation is not proven unless it is associated with a clear corruption or mismanagement by the guardian.

What is the Educational Guardianship?

According to educational guardianship, the incubator has the right to supervise and follow up on the educational affairs of the child under custody, from transferring files, registering him at school, attending parents’ meetings, as well as extracting the child’s official documents and using them in any legal proceedings before the competent authorities. The mother shall file an educational guardianship lawsuit and obtain a judgment authorizing her to exercise educational guardianship over the child.

This is in accordance with Article 40 of the Child Protection Law, which states: “Education is a right for all children and they may not be deprived thereof. The educational guardianship of the child shall be granted to the custodian, whether the father, mother, guardian, or custodian - in accordance with the provisions of Personal Status Law No. 51 of 1984 and the interests of the child.

The Ministry of Education is responsible for registering the child in the educational stage appropriate to his age, and for children of unknown parentage, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor replaces the educational guardian. It is worth mentioning that being assisted by a skilled family-law lawyer in Kuwait will protect your rights and grant you educational guardianship. 

The importance of hiring an attorney in the educational guardian case?

The mother may face difficulty in completing the academic procedures related to the child in custody related to his transferor enabling him to study if she is not able to obtain a ruling for the educational guardianship, and here the importance of the Kuwaiti custody attorney in educational guardian case arises, as by accepting the case the incubator will be able to sign any procedures or documents related to the child’s educational interest, including the right to extract all the children’s official documents and the right to use them legally before the relevant authorities.

In conclusion, in this article presented on the Integrated Legal Group (ILG) website, we touched upon the guardianship over the person and the guardianship over the estate and the conditions thereof and explained the case for revoking the guardianship and the educational guardianship and other related matters. Eventually, it becomes clear the necessity of hiring an expert in educational guardianship cases to represent the affected persons before the Personal Status Court, as well as to obtain the best educational guardianship judgment at the discretion of the judge.