1. Remove a guardian

Guardianship

Remove a guardian

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Overview

Anyone can apply to the Family Court to remove a guardian. The Court will only remove a guardian if this is in the child’s best interests and supports their welfare. The guardian will also get the chance to respond to your application.

Removing a parent as a guardian

The court can remove a parent as guardian for two reasons:

Seriously unfit to be a guardian of the child

Finding a guardian seriously unfit can only be for serious reasons. These may include serious:

  • abuse of a child
  • criminal convictions
  • mental illness or other disability that negatively impacts your child.

Unwilling to be a guardian of the child

A parent can be removed as a guardian if they’re unwilling to be a guardian. This must be harmful to the child and detrimental to their welfare and best interests.

Removing other guardians

The court may also remove a testamentary guardian, court-appointed guardian, or additional guardian.

How to apply

1

Determine if you need an urgent decision from the court

When to apply for an urgent court order

If you think you need urgent help, you may find it helpful to talk to a lawyer.

Get legal advice and help

2

Understand what you need

The application pack includes your application, affidavit, and information sheet. You may find the following information useful when you complete these forms.

Care of Children - Applying for a Court Order guide [PDF, 3.9 MB]

Affidavits and statutory declarations

Information sheets

If your application is not urgent, you’ll need to make sure everyone named as a party in the application has an exact copy of the application. This is called service.

Serving documents

You need a BLUE or BLACK ballpoint pen if you choose to fill out the forms by hand.

A lawyer can help you apply for court orders and they may also represent you in court.

3

Complete an application form

Choose the form you need to complete.

Care of Children form generator

If you need an urgent decision, select ‘without notice’ in the ‘how you want to file’ field.

To have the forms sent to you, freephone the Ministry of Justice 0800 224 733. You can also pick them up from the court.

Find your nearest court

You must print the forms single sided.

The type of form you need to choose depends on who you want to remove. To choose the right form, read the Care of Children - Applying for a Court Order guide

4

Get all your documents together

Your application must include:

  • a completed and signed application form, including the affidavit, and information sheet
  • an exact copy for each person named on the application for the court if you’re filing in person or by post. You must also keep a copy for yourself.
5

File your application

You can file your application electronically, by post, or in person. When you file your application, it must have the original signatures. You must file your application at the correct courthouse. If you file your application in person or by post, you’ll need to provide enough exact copies for everyone named as a party to your application and keep a copy for yourself.

How to file documents

Court staff will contact you if they need more information.

Fees when using the Family Court

You don’t need to pay a court filing fee for this application. There may be other fees involved when using the Family Court. This may include:

  • lawyers’ fees and charges
  • cost contribution orders

Family Court fees and funding

Costs you need to pay after your case

After you apply

If you filed an urgent application

If a judge agrees that your case is urgent, they may make an interim order without notice. This means the order will be made before the respondent is told. This is usually within 24-48 hours. If an interim order is made, your documents will be sent to the other people named as parties in your application to give them a chance to respond before a final order is made.

If you filed a non-urgent application or the judge doesn’t agree your case is urgent

The Court will try to give a copy of your application to the other people named as parties in your application. They’ll be given time to respond, which could be between 21-50 days, depending on if the person lives in Aotearoa New Zealand or overseas.

If they respond, you'll be given a copy of their response.


Before a judge makes a decision, they may:

  • want to hear from you in person
  • appoint a lawyer for child to understand the child's views and present them to the court
  • ask for a specialist, cultural, or social worker's report on your situation from a professional such as a psychologist or medical doctor
  • decide to hold a case conference or a hearing, or both.

Lawyer for child

Specialist, cultural, and social worker reports

Case conferences

Hearings

When your case will be finalised

How long it takes to finalise your case in court depends on the following.

  • How long the other people named in your application take to respond
  • If a judge has asked for more information
  • How long you or other people take to give any extra information
  • How soon the Family Court can look at your case (especially if a conference or hearing is needed)
  • If a judge directs anyone involved in the case to attend out of court services (including Parenting Through Separation course, preparatory counselling, or Family Dispute Resolution mediation service)
  • The number of adjournments made by the judge.

If you want to know how long your case may take, talk to your lawyer.

Resources in other languages and alternate formats

We have resources available in different languages and alternate formats. Select the language or alternate format to get the resources relevant to this page.

Feeling overwhelmed?

Going through a change in your whānau situation can be hard. It's normal to feel overwhelmed. There are services available to help and support you through this time.

Visit our help page