Legal guardianship

Are you becoming a legal guardian to a loved one? Find out how to go about legal guardianship with OP.

How to get started with OP Pohjola

Once legal guardianship has entered into force by a decision made by a court of law or the guardianship authority (Digital and Population Data Services Agency), do as follows:

1. Book an appointment

Contact Customer Service to book an appointment at the account-holding bank of the person to be under legal guardianship to manage the matters specified in the continuing power of attorney.

  • Over the phone, we can book an appointment at the branch or, for OP Pohjola customers, an online meeting. We can also assist you with matters related to legal guardianship. However, we can't perform any banking transactions related to legal guardianship, because customer identification is not strong enough over the phone.

    Contact Customer Service

  • An online meeting is a flexible option to OP Pohjola customers, especially as the principal's bank could be anywhere in Finland.

    Contact Customer Service to book an online meeting at the account-holding bank of the person under legal guardianship.

    You can join an online meeting either in the op.fi service or OP's mobile app.

    Read the online meeting instructions

  • If you want to meet our experts face to face, you can book an appointment at the account-holding bank branch of the person under legal guardianship. A meeting is possible even if you are not yet an OP customer.

    If you do not send documents in advance with an online message, you can take them along, that is, the decision on legal guardianship.

    Take a valid ID document, issued by the Finnish authorities, with you to the branch.

    Check the acceptable personal ID documents

2. Send the decision on legal guardianship in advance

If you already are an OP customer, you can send the decision on legal guardianship to us before the meeting.

  • The legal guardian must present proof of the decisions on legal guardianship and its extent to the bank.

    You can send legal guardianship documents with an online message. Scan the documents or take photos of them with your mobile phone or tablet. If you have booked a meeting for a bank branch, you can bring the documents along.

    Necessary documents:

    • Confirmed decision on legal guardianship

    Checklist for sending documents

    • Send the documents as PDF or JPG files.
    • Photograph or scan both sides of the documents.
    • Check that the documents are the right way up and the texts are clear enough to read.

3. Prepare for the meeting

As the legal guardian, you make the decisions, so these instructions will be enough for the first meeting.

  • The previous step contains more detailed instructions for sending documents. If you have booked a meeting for a bank branch, you can bring the documents along.

  • The legal guardian will make most banking decisions on financial and asset management matters, such as account management and use of funds. So you should think in advance how you want these matters to be handled. During the meeting, we can go into more detail based on your ideas.

    Bank cards and online banking user IDs are personal, and the legal guardian may not use the principal's user IDs or cards. The bank may grant the authorised representative access to the accounts and, if necessary, a separate payment card.

  • A person under legal guardianship who nevertheless retains the option to manage their affairs independently should be told about this in advance.