If your minor child is going to the Netherlands, Aruba, St. Maarten or Curaçao then you must designate someone who will take over the responsibility, care and education of your child in the country of destination.
The parent(s) with parental authority must then file an application for temporary guardianship at least four months before the departure date with the Guardianship Council CN on the island where the child is registered. Below you can read exactly what happens when you apply for temporary guardianship.
Do this on time so that important matters, such as the registration of your child, can be arranged on time. If the applicant is someone other than the parent(s) with parental authority then the application can be made with an authorisation. You will find an authorisation form at the bottom of this page.
If a child is 17.6 months old on departure, you do not need to apply for temporary guardianship. An authorisation with which an adult can arrange affairs for the minor in the country of destination, is then sufficient.
How does an application for temporary guardianship proceed?
The parent(s) with parental authority file an application for temporary guardianship at least four months before the departure date with the Guardianship Council CN on the island where the child is registered.
You can file an application during the walk-in office hours of the Guardianship Council CN on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 09:00 and 11:00 in the morning. If you cannot come to the Guardianship Council CN during these hours, you can make an appointment by telephone with the Guardianship Council CN at your location.
You must bring all personal data of the parent(s) with parental authority, the minor and the preferred guardian. At the bottom of this page you will find a complete list of what to bring with you when filing an application for temporary guardianship with the Guardianship Council CN.
Your application will be screened by the Guardianship Council CN and transferred to a council investigator who will start an investigation. At the start of the investigation you will receive a letter explaining the procedure.
If the place of residence of the preferred guardian is abroad, then the Guardianship Council will send your application to the Child Care and Protection Board (in the Netherlands) or the Guardianship Council on the island where the preferred temporary guardian lives. They will then carry out the environmental investigation into the preferred temporary guardian. The council investigator gives his/her advice in a report at the end of an investigation. This advice states whether it is in the interest of the minor that he or she should live with the temporary guardian. If there are no objections, the prospective guardian is asked to sign a statement agreeing to act as a temporary guardian.
After completion of the investigation, the investigation results and the statement from the intended guardian will be sent to the Guardianship Council in the Caribbean Netherlands. If the investigation meets all requirements, it means that the result of the investigation is positive. The parent(s) are invited to the Guardianship Council CN to discuss the advice. In case of a positive advice you must sign a statement in which you agree to be suspended from your parental authority. You will then receive all the documents and can submit them to the court.
You must submit the documents to the court by yourself. This costs 28 dollars and is for your own account. Sometimes the case is handled in the country of the intended guardian, which differs per region in The Netherlands.
The court will schedule a meeting: the court hearing. The parents receive an invitation for this and sometimes the child if he or she has not yet gone abroad. After the court has given a ruling, the parent(s) will be given a document: a decision. It contains the ruling. With this decision, the temporary guardian can represent the interests of a minor child.
After three months the Child Care and Protection Board checks if everything is going well with the child that moved to The Netherlands.