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A guardian is an adult who’s responsible for your child’s care, growth, and upbringing. Guardians have all the same legal duties, powers, rights, and responsibilities in relation to the upbringing of a child as a child’s parents. Guardianship usually ends when your child turns 18.
Being a guardian means to:
Guardians work with anyone involved in the child’s care to make decisions about the child. This includes their:
As the child gets older, guardians will make decisions more frequently with the child.
If you’re a guardian, and you don’t already have day-to-day care, you’ll either need a private parenting agreement (sometimes called a parenting plan), or a ‘Parenting Order’.
If you’d like day-to-day care, it might be helpful to talk to a lawyer.
Guardianship of a child ends when:
Sometimes guardians can’t agree on arrangements, such as where your child will go to school. To help work out these disagreements, guardians can get help from out of court specialist services like Parenting Through Separation and Family Dispute Resolution mediation service.
Parenting Through Separation course
Family Dispute Resolution mediation service
If that doesn't work, they can apply through the Family Court for an ‘Order to Settle a Dispute between Guardians’.
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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