Protective guardianship / administrator

There is all kinds of help available for people who have difficulty arranging their finances. For example, one can take a budget course or use budget management. If that is not sufficient, protective guardianship can be ordered by the judge. The judge will then immediately appoint an administrator. The court (or actually the subdistrict court judge) supervises the protective guardianship.

Most administrators do their work well. But even the best administrators make mistakes. If you have the impression that your administrator is making mistakes or is not doing his job properly, you should of course first try to discuss this with your administrator. Maybe you can solve it together. If you are unable to resolve the matter together, you can file a complaint. Sometimes the administrator is affiliated with a trade association and you can submit the complaint there. You can often also go to the subdistrict court judge with your complaint.

Advocatenkantoor Elbertse regularly helps people who are dissatisfied with their administrator. But watch out! For most issues, the government believes that legal assistance is not necessary. There are then no provisions for paying a lawyer. Hiring a lawyer is then actually not possible without the financial help of someone else. For other issues, especially if there is a lot of financial damage, financing is often possible.

Advocatenkantoor Elbertse can also help if you do not want or no longer want a protective guardianship. If someone other than yourself applies for guardianship and you do not agree, Advocatenkantoor Elbertse can help you put up a defense in court. And if you have submitted a request to the judge to terminate the guardianship but it has been rejected, Linda Elbertse can help you with the appeal.

In order to ensure that protective guardianship matters proceed efficiently, Advocatenkantoor Elbertse asks that you not come to the meeting alone, but that you bring someone with you who can help you ask questions, clarify the problems and listen to the advice.

What about protective guardianship and resolving my debts?

Protective administrators try to help their clients by ensuring that no more is spent each month than is received. In this way, incurring debts can often be prevented. Protective administrators also often make payment arrangements with creditors. If the debts are relatively low, the debt burden can be solved with this.

But if the debt burden is relatively high, the normal activities of an administrator are not sufficient. In that case, the debts must be restructured. This means that the debts are partly forgiven. Forgiving debts is not that easy. If the protective administrator is able – together with you – to ensure a stable (financial) situation, you can be registered for debt assistance through the municipality. The debt counsellors will then help you further. Click here for the separate page about debt assistance.

What is the difference between all those different administrators?

The term administrator is often used for different officials. Here is a list of the most common administrators:

Protective administrator from Book 1 of the Dutch Civil Code: This administrator regulates the income and expenses of the person under guardianship. The administrator also makes payment arrangements with creditors. This administrator represents the person under administration, for example in legal proceedings.

WSNP administrator under the Dutch Bankruptcy Act: The administrator collects all monies from the person under administration in excess of the ‘Free Allowance Amount’. The administrator saves this amount for the creditors. This administrator checks whether you comply with all obligations of the WSNP. If you comply with all obligations, this administrator will advise the judge to give you a clean slate. If the judge grants a clean slate, all old debts will be forgiven.

Suspension administrator from the Dutch Bankruptcy Act: If a company is about to go bankrupt, a suspension of payments can be requested from the court. During a suspension of payments (‘deferral of payment’), the administrator examines whether the company can still be saved financially and takes the necessary measures. Most suspensions are converted into bankruptcy.

Inheritance administrator from Book 4 of the Dutch Civil Code: If someone with a lot of assets dies, that person may have stipulated in his will that his inheritance will be managed by an administrator. The heirs will then not be able to access the money and assets themselves. If an heir wants to receive part of the money, he or she can submit a request to the administrator. The administrator then decides whether and, if so, how much money will be paid out to the heir.