Protective Administration / Financial Guardianship

There are all kinds of help available for people who struggle handling their finances. For example, one can take a financial literacy course or enlist the help of a budget coach. If that is not sufficient, the court can order financial guardianship, also known as protective administration. This is a form of fiduciary administration. The judge will then appoint a financial administrator (or: protective administrator). The court supervises the protective administration.

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

Law Firm Elbertse regularly helps people who are dissatisfied with their administrator and feel there has been some mismanagement. But beware! 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 practically impossible without the financial help of someone else. For other issues, mainly if there is a lot of financial damage, financing is possible. The administrator can sometimes be compelled to cooperate by paying the costs of a lawyer from the income and assets of the client. 

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

In order to ensure that protective administration matters proceed efficiently, Law Firm 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 administration and resolving my debts?

Financial 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 repayment plans with creditors. If the debts are relatively low, the debt burden can be solved in this way.

But if the debt burden is relatively high, the normal activities of an administrator are insufficient. In those cases, the debts must be restructured. This means that the debts are partly forgiven. Getting your debts forgiven is not that easy. If the protective administrator is able – together with you – to ensure a stable (financial) situation, you can apply for debt assistance through the municipality. This department is called the debt counseling services. The debt counselors will then help you further. Click here for a separate page about the debt counseling services.

What is the difference between all those different administrators?

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

Protective Administrator / Financial Guardian (Book 1 of the Civil Code): This administrator handles the income and expenses of the person under financial guardianship. The administrator also makes payment arrangements with creditors. This administrator represents the person under administration, for example in legal proceedings.

Debt Relief Administrator (Debt Relief Act for Natural Persons): The administrator collects all income from the person under administration in excess of the ‘Free Allowance Amount’ and can also sell some of the assets. The administrator saves this amount for the creditors. This administrator checks whether you comply with all obligations. If you meet all the requirements, the 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 of Payments Administrator (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, the suspension of payments administrator examines whether the company can still be saved financially and takes the necessary measures. Most suspensions are converted into bankruptcy.

Testamentary Administrator (Book 4 of the Civil Code): If someone with a lot of assets dies, that person may have stipulated in their will that their inheritance will be managed by a testamentary 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, they 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.