Generally, a person becomes completely independent from his parents or tutor at the age of 18. From the moment you turn 18, you are free to exercise all of your civil rights on your own and without restriction (draw up a will, donate organs, etc.).

Before you turn 18, you are a minor and you have one or more tutors. Most of the time, your parents are your tutors. They are obliged to act in your best interest by taking care of you and the things you own.

There are two types of tutorship:

• Legal tutorship
  
  Legal tutorship is the kind that is automatically granted to parents. They do not have to be appointed by a court. If one of the parents dies, tutorship automatically stays with the other parent. Most of the time, parents act as tutors free of charge. But in exceptional cases when administering the minor’s property becomes the parents’ main occupation, a court can decide that they should be paid.
  
  
• Dative tutorship
  
  IfIf both parents die, or if they are both deprived of parental authority (when a court takes away all the parents’ rights regarding their children because of the parents’ poor conduct), a dative tutor is appointed. For more information about when parents are deprived of parental authority, consult the Infosheet: Parental authority. Dative tutorship is usually taken on by a family member or by someone close to the minor.
  
  When no person in the minor’s entourage can assume the role of dative tutor, the Director of Youth Protection (DYP), and sometimes the Public Curator, is appointed as tutor, (The Public Curator is appointed by the government to oversee the protection of citizens unable to care for themselves.).
  
  Parents can appoint a dative tutor in their wills or through a declaration filed with the Public Curator.
  
  The person chosen to be a dative tutor may refuse the appointment. But whether he accepts or refuses, a dative tutor named by the parents must inform the Public Curator of his decision.
  
  A minor can have more than one tutor: one to care for his personal well-being and another to take care of his property. The tutor caring for the minor’s personal well-being must be an individual (an uncle, a sister, etc.) and not a company. The tutor in charge of property need not be a physical person. It can be, for example, a trust company specializing in managing property.

Dative Tutors

Here are some of the duties of dative tutors as regards the property of a minor:

• make a list of the property to be managed within sixty (60) days of the start of the tutorship
  
• provide a security deposit or take out insurance if the value of the property exceeds $25,000
  
• produce annual administration reports
  
• produce a final report at the end of the tutorship for the Public Curator and the “tutorship council” (a group of people who monitor and assist the tutor)
  
• obtain any advice or authorizations required by law

Legal Tutors (the parents)

If the value of their child’s property exceeds $25,000, they too must fulfill all the duties listed above.

If the value of their child’s property is under $25,000, parents need only report to the child when he or she turns 18 on how they have managed the child’s property. While this report need not be as formal as when the property is worth over $25,000, it is still a good idea to keep a separate bank account for a child and a copy of any relevant supporting documents to give the child when he or she turns 18.

A tutor’s powers depend on the type of tutorship.

• Legal tutorship
  When the minor’s property is worth less than $25,000, the parents have the power to make all decisions concerning managing the property. They must make these decisions with care, diligence and honesty and in the child’s best interests..They are not allowed to use the child’s funds for their own personal ends. They can invest the child’s money, but only in “presumed sound” investments, which are low risk investments such as savings bonds.
  
  When the minor’s property exceeds $25,000, things get more formal: a tutorship council needs to be created. The council is generally made up of three people appointed by a group of parents and/or friends. The role of this council is to oversee the actions of the tutors. Legal tutors (parents) cannot mortgage a minor’s property, sell valuable property belonging to the minor, or borrow money without authorization from the tutorship council.

• Dative tutorship
  
  Dative tutors are always supervised by a three-person tutorship council. Similar to legal tutors of a minor with property worth more than $25,000, dative tutors require the approval of the tutorship council when making certain decisions.

Yes. It depends on where the property or money comes from.

Certain property falls outside of the tutor’s administration because it was given in a will or in circumstances that make another person the administrator.

For example, a will can state that Nicolas, age three, will inherit $25,000 to be managed by a foundation or a financial institution until he turns 18.

Also, regardless of age, a minor can manage, on his own, an allowance or salary from a job Further, from age 14 on, a minor is considered an adult with respect to his work, art or profession.

But there is an important exception to this principle. If a child earns substantial employment income, his parents can ask a court to determine the amount the child can manage on his own and the amount that should be administered by his parents.

The Public Curator is a government agency that oversees the management of all dative tutors and of legal tutors managing property worth more than $25,000.

Tutorship of a minor ends automatically when the minor reaches full age, with the full emancipation of the minor, or at his death. “Full emancipation” is a legal process that gives a minor almost all the rights of an adult.

The tutor’s responsibilities can also end with the replacement of the tutor or her death.

Parents can never choose to stop being tutors for their minor child: this is their duty as parents. However, a dative tutor (one who takes the parents’ place) can resign for serious reasons if the court authorizes it.

Finally, a dative or legal tutor can be removed by the court at anyone’s request if the tutor does not perform her obligations well or is incapable of being a tutor. There must, however, be serious grounds for removal. For example:

• the tutor cannot perform her duties (for reasons of age, inability to act, prolonged absence, etc.)
  
• the tutor fails to fulfill her legal duties and is harming the minor’s interests
  
• there were serious irregularities in the process of appointing the dative tutor.

No. Tutorship to minors ends when the child becomes turns 18. The law does not automatically require a tutor for adults who cannot take care of themselves.
However, the parents of a child who needs assistance can ask the court or a notary to open a “protective regime” for their child. A protective regime is a legal mechanism set up to protect vulnerable individuals.

For example, Sophie, who just turned 18, has a minor mental disability. She can take care of herself and manage many aspects of her life, but she still needs help with her finances signing an apartment lease and other matters. Sophie’s parents could request that a protective regime be created for their daughter.

For more information, read our Infosheet called Instituting Protective Supervision.