Policy paper

Requesting information about a guardianship order

Updated 14 June 2022

Applies to England and Wales

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/requesting-information-about-a-guardianship-order/requesting-information-about-a-guardianship-order

The Public Guardian has a duty to establish and maintain a register of court orders appointing guardians (guardianship orders).

The Public Guardian’s authority comes from the Guardianship (Missing Persons) Act 2017.

This practice note explains the Public Guardian’s policy on:

  • what information is on the register
  • how we handle requests for information held on the register
  • how we handle requests for information not held on the register

What we hold on the registers

All guardianship orders are about property and financial affairs. The Public Guardian’s policy is that the register of guardianship orders holds:

  • the type of order – appointing a guardian or a variation order (changing something)
  • when a guardianship order became active
  • the name and date of birth of the person an order is about
  • whether there are conditions or restrictions in the guardianship order – we will not reveal what these are but will tell an applicant if they exist
  • the status of the court order – whether it is active, cancelled, revoked or expired
  • a court order reference and OPG reference number
  • when the guardianship court order ends

The register does not hold information on the names of guardians, or about guardianship applications awaiting a High Court decision.

Requesting a search of the registers

It’s free to search the register of guardianship orders.

To ask for a search, an applicant must complete form GS4 ‘Find out if someone has a guardian’.

Applicants must tell us:

  • their own name, contact details and relationship to the person the guardianship order is about
  • the name, date of birth, and the last known address of the person they want to search for

The name and date of birth of the person must match the information we hold on the register for us to give information to the applicant.

We’ll let an applicant know within 5 working days if we find a match in the register and will give them the information we find.

Requesting additional information not held on the registers

Applicants can ask for additional information about a guardianship order when they apply to search the register. They must use form GS4 to make the application.

We consider additional information to be anything about a person that the Public Guardian has obtained while carrying out his duties, but which is not on the register.

If an application includes a request for additional information, we’ll respond to the request for a search of the guardianship register first, before we decide whether to give out additional information.

Things we consider before disclosing additional information

We give out additional information only when the request for it is reasonable and justified, or where there is a legal basis for sharing it.

We consider all applications for additional information on a case-by-case basis but we’ll share additional information with:

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