Child’s guardianship (custody) in a household

You as a natural person must submit an application to the territorial office of the Child Rights Protection Service. In it, you must indicate your name, surname, date of birth, personal identification number, address of the place of residence, telephone number, e-mail address, postal address, the number of children to be cared for in the household, their ages, and the type of guardianship (custody) in the application. The following documents or their copies should also be submitted together:

• Medical certificates in the form prescribed by the Minister of Health and of persons over 16 years of age living together (form No 046/a). They should be issued no more than 12 months to the date of submission of the application for becoming the founder, member of the household to the territorial office of the Service;
• Written consent of persons over 16 living with you to establish a household (specify the name, surname, date of birth, consent for you (specify THE name, surname, date of birth) to establish a household);
• Documents evidencing that you meet at least one of the conditions specified in Article 4(1)(2) of the Law on Households (order of the Director of the Municipality Administration, the operative part of the court ruling, the part of the employment contract which sets forth the nature and duration of the work, a diploma of higher education, etc.).

After submitting the documents, you should apply to the mayor of your municipality for consent to establish a household in the territory of the municipality in accordance with the procedure established in the Household Regulations. The mayor of the municipality must provide the founder of the family with a written consent to establishment and financing of the household within one month from the date of receipt of the application. The mayor of the municipality may not agree to allow the establishment of a household in the territory of the municipality, if the need for guardianship (custody) of children deprived of parental care in the household is already met in the territory of the municipality.

In this step, the articles of association of the household which also constitutes the household incorporation agreement should be approved. They indicate the name of the household, the legal form of the household (household), the objectives of the activity (fields and types of activity), rights and duties, management, members (names, surnames) and their competence, asset management, the right of the member to the property transferred to his household, to the member of the household after refusing to be one or liquidating the household, the management of the assets of the children under guardianship (custody) and the procedure for changing the articles of association.

After submitting the documents specified in the first step, the Child Rights Protection Department will provide you with a conclusion on your eligibility to become a child’s guardian (custodian), that you, as the founder, meet all the requirements for a child’s physical guardian (custodian) in the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania, and that the premises of the household in which the children under guardianship (custody) of the the household will live a meet the requirements of the legal acts regulating social care.

Since the household is a legal entity, it must be registered in the Register of Legal Entities. The founder of the household must furnish the Register of Legal Entities with the same documents that were submitted to the Child Rights Protection Service and the municipality, and, in addition, the documents provided for in Article 2.64 of the Civil Code:

• the application for incorporation of a legal person according to the prescribed form;
• documents of incorporation of the legal person;
• documents evidencing the authenticity of the data submitted to the Register and compliance of the founding documents with the requirements of the law, as well as documents evidencing that the legal entity may be registered because the obligations set forth in the laws or the founding transaction have been fulfilled and the circumstances provided for in the laws or founding documents have occurred. The afore-mentioned documents are drawn up or attested by a notary, except in cases provided for by the Regulations of the Register of Legal Entities;
• other documents prescribed by the law.

The legal entity must be registered within three working days from submission of all the listed documents and payment of the registration fee. The household is deemed to be established from the date of its registration in the Register of Legal Entities.

A household becomes a guardian (custodian) of children deprived of parental care:

• from the date of entry into force of the decision of the mayor of the municipality regarding the establishment of temporary guardianship (custody) of children in the household;
• from the date of entry into force of the court ruling placing children in permanent guardianship (custody) in the household, except in the cases where the court ruling or a part of it regarding child’s guardianship (custody) is executed urgently or the court sets a certain time limit for compliance with it;
• after obtaining a license to provide institutional social care (long-term, short-term) for children in the household in accordance with the procedure established by the Law on Social Services.