Is a Guardian Paid a Fee?
Is a Guardian Paid a Fee?
In my column for the newspaper this week, I will attempt to explain a very important topic to you. As you know, being a guardian carries significant responsibilities. The question of whether a person appointed as a guardian by the guardianship authority will be paid a fee is a common issue. I will try to provide information regarding the fee to be paid to the guardian.
The guardian's fee is regulated in detail in the Turkish Civil Code. Specifically:
Turkish Civil Code Article 457- The guardian may request to be paid a fee, to be met from the assets of the person under guardianship, and if that is not possible, from the Treasury. The fee to be paid is determined by the guardianship authority for each accounting period, taking into account the effort required by the administration and the income of the managed assets.
As seen in Article 457 of the Turkish Civil Code, the guardian has the right to request a fee from the Peace Civil Court, which is the guardianship authority. A guardian spends time on tasks and transactions arising from their guardianship duties by sacrificing time they would otherwise devote to themselves, their family, or their own affairs. For this reason, the Turkish Civil Code stipulates that a fee should be paid to the guardian in connection with the effort expended and time devoted by the guardian. According to the relevant articles of the Turkish Civil Code, the guardian may request a fee in writing from the judge of the Peace Civil Court. The guardianship authority is bound by the request in its decision to pay a fee to the guardian for their guardianship duties. In other words, as long as the guardian does not request a fee from the Peace Civil Court, the judge of the Peace Civil Court does not make a decision *ex officio* (on their own initiative). The amount and payment method of the fee are determined by the judge of the Peace Civil Court, who acts as the guardianship authority. The Turkish Civil Code stipulates that the fee to be paid shall be determined by taking into account the effort required for management and the income of the assets being managed. If there are no assets to be managed, the fee will naturally be determined by taking into account the effort expended. The fee is determined separately for each accounting period. In practice, the accounting period is one year; however, if the guardianship authority has decided that the guardian does not need to keep records, the accounting period is considered to be two years. Depending on the discretion of the court, the guardianship authority may award an advance payment as a fee at the time of the guardian's appointment, considering the affairs of the person under guardianship. In cases where more than one guardian is appointed for an individual, the fee for each is determined separately based on the work they perform. The guardian has the right to appeal the decision of the judge of the Peace Civil Court, as the guardianship authority, regarding the determination of the fee to the supervisory authority within 10 days from the notification of the decision. The decisions made by the supervisory authorities are final and there is no right to appeal them.