Children’s Property and
Tuteurs (Jersey) Law 2016
A LAW to provide for the appointment and discharge of tuteurs and the duties and liabilities of tuteurs and former tuteurs;
to empower the Royal Court to give directions in relation to the property of
any minor; to empower the States to make Regulations amending the Loi (1959)
touchant la vente des immeubles de mineurs; and for connected purposes
Commencement [see endnotes]
1 Interpretation
In this Law –
“delegate” means a person appointed as such under Part 4
of the Capacity and Self-Determination (Jersey) Law 2016;
“guardian”
means, in relation to a minor, the person (if any) appointed as the
minor’s guardian under Article 7 of the Children (Jersey)
Law 2002;
“Minister” means the Chief Minister;
“minor” means, in relation to a tuteur, the minor in relation to whose property the
tuteur is appointed, and “former
minor” means the minor, once he or she has attained full age;
“property” means –
(a) movable
and immovable property; and
(b) where
a tuteur has
been appointed, the property to which the appointment relates;
“relative” means, in relation to a minor –
(a) a
grand-parent;
(b) a
brother or sister (whether of the full blood or half blood);
(c) an
uncle or aunt (including a person who is an uncle or aunt by marriage or civil
partnership);
(d) a
first cousin (including a person who is a first cousin).[1]
2 Appointment
of tuteur
(1) A tuteur must be appointed in relation to property
owned by or due to a minor if the property is or includes –
(a) immovable
property; or
(b) movable
property having a value, in the aggregate, which exceeds £25,000.
(2) Movable property shall
be disregarded for the purposes of paragraph (1)(b) if the
property –
(a) forms
part or the whole of the estate of a deceased person and the executor or
administrator of the estate is for the time being responsible for its
administration; or
(b) is
held on trust and for the time being administered by the trustee of the trust.
(3) A tuteur may be appointed in any other case.
(4) The Minister may, by
Order, amend the amount in paragraph (1)(b).
(5) An application for the
appointment of a tuteur must be made to the
Royal Court.
(6) An application for the
appointment of a tuteur may be made
by –
(a) a
parent or relative of the minor;
(b) a
guardian of the minor;
(c) a
creditor of the minor;
(d) the
Attorney General; or
(e) with
the leave of the Royal Court, any other person.
(7) On an application for
the appointment of a tuteur being made, the
Royal Court –
(a) shall
appoint a tuteur in
a case described in paragraph (1); and
(b) may
appoint a tuteur in
any other case.
(8) Only an individual may
be appointed as tuteur.
(9) The fact that an
individual is the parent or guardian of the minor, or has applied for the
appointment of a tuteur, does not prevent the
individual being appointed as tuteur.
(10) Subject to paragraphs (11)
and (12), the Royal Court shall appoint a tuteur
in relation to all of the minor’s property.
(11) The Royal Court
may –
(a) direct
that a tuteur’s appointment does not extend to any property described in paragraph (2);
(b) impose
restrictions on a tuteur’s powers.
(12) Where a minor who owns or has
due to him or her immovable property also owns or has due to him or her movable
property having a value, in the aggregate, that does not exceed the amount
referred to in paragraph (1)(b), the Royal Court may direct that the tuteur’s appointment does not extend to the
minor’s movable property.
(13) The Royal Court may, in any
case, appoint more than one individual as tuteur
in relation to the property of a minor.
(14) The appointment of a tuteur takes effect upon the person taking the oath
set out in Schedule 1.
3 Powers
and duties of tuteur
(1) A tuteur is responsible for the administration of the
property in relation to which he or she is appointed, and for no other matter.
(2) The Code of 1771
makes provision as to the manner in which a tuteur
must discharge his or her responsibility and the liability of a tuteur who does not discharge his or her
responsibility in that manner.
(3) Subject to any
restriction imposed by the Royal Court, a tuteur
acting in the discharge of his or her duties shall have the same powers in
relation to the property as the minor would have, if the minor was of full age.
(4) Without prejudice to
the generality of paragraph (3), the powers referred to in that paragraph
include the same powers of delegation and to employ other persons as a trustee
has under Article 25(2) and (4) of the Trusts (Jersey) Law 1984.
4 Expenses
and remuneration of tuteur
A tuteur is
entitled to be paid, from the property –
(a) his or her expenses
reasonably incurred in the discharge of his or her powers and duties as tuteur;
(b) remuneration, in
accordance with a scale or rate specified in rules of court, for his or her
work done in the discharge of his or her powers and duties as tuteur.
5 Discharge
of tuteur
(1) The Royal Court may
discharge an individual from the office of tuteur
at any time.
(2) An application for a
person to be discharged from the office of tuteur
may be made to the Royal Court by –
(a) the tuteur;
(b) the
Attorney General; or
(c) with
the leave of the Royal Court, any other person.
(3) When discharging an
individual from the office of tuteur the
Royal Court –
(a) must,
where Article 2(1) applies, appoint one or more individuals as tuteur in his or her place, if there would otherwise be no-one appointed
as tuteur in
relation to the minor’s property; and
(b) may,
in any other case, appoint one or more individuals as tuteur in his or her place.
(4) When discharging an
individual from the office of tuteur, the
Royal Court may give directions under Article 7.
6 Cessation
of appointment of tuteur
(1) An individual shall
cease to hold the office of tuteur upon the
minor attaining full age or dying.
(2) Upon the minor
attaining full age the former tuteur shall,
without delay, take any steps necessary to transfer the administration of the
property to the former minor or, if a delegate is appointed for the former
minor, to the delegate.[2]
(3) Upon the minor dying,
the former tuteur shall, without delay, take
any steps necessary to facilitate the devolution of the administration of the
minor’s property on the executor or administrator of the deceased
minor’s estate.
(4) The general duties in
paragraphs (2) and (3) do not derogate from the specific duties in
Schedule 2.
7 Directions
of the Royal Court in relation to property of minor, whether or
not tuteur appointed
(1) The
Royal Court may give directions in relation to –
(a) the
administration of the property of a minor, whether or not a tuteur has
been appointed in relation to the property;
(b) the
transfer of the administration of property from a tuteur to
another person.
(2) Where
a tuteur has been appointed in relation to
property, an application for directions may be made by –
(a) the tuteur;
(b) the
Attorney General; or
(c) with
the leave of the Royal Court, any other person.
(3) Where
a tuteur has not been appointed for the
minor, an application for directions may be made by –
(a) a
person holding property that is owned by or due to the minor;
(b) a
creditor of the minor;
(c) the
Attorney General; or
(d) with
the leave of the Royal Court, any other person.
8 Inventories,
accounts and papers
(1) Schedule 2
has effect to impose duties on tuteurs and
former tuteurs –
(a) to
prepare inventories and accounts of the property of the minor, in such form and
containing such information as may be specified in that Schedule; and
(b) to
submit such inventories and accounts to such persons, by such dates, and at
such intervals or on the occurrence of such events as may be specified in that
Schedule;
(c) to
deliver up such books papers and other documents held in connection with the
administration of a minor’s property to such persons, by such date, as
may be specified in that Schedule.
(2) The
Minister may, by Order, amend Schedule 2.
9 Offences
(1) A person (other than
the tuteur) who administers the property of a
minor in relation to which a tuteur is
appointed commits an offence.
(2) Paragraph (1) does
not apply to a person who takes action concerning property in relation to which
a tuteur is appointed if the
person –
(a) takes
the action in accordance with a direction given by the tuteur; and
(b) reasonably
believes that the direction is lawfully given by the tuteur.
(3) Paragraph (1) does
not apply to a person who takes action concerning property in relation to which
a tuteur is appointed if the
person –
(a) is
the delegate of the tuteur;
(b) acts
in accordance with the terms of the delegation; and
(c) reasonably
believes that the delegation is lawfully made by the tuteur.
(4) Paragraph (1) does
not apply to a person who takes action concerning property in relation to which
a tuteur is appointed if the
person –
(a) is
employed by the tuteur;
(b) acts
in accordance with the terms of the employment; and
(c) reasonably
believes that his or her employment by the tuteur is lawful.
(5) A person who
administers the property of a minor in relation to which a tuteur is required by Article 2(1) to be
appointed but for which no tuteur is
appointed commits an offence.
(6) Paragraph (5) does
not apply to a person who administers the property –
(a) only
for the purpose of preserving it; and
(b) only
to the extent necessary for that purpose.
(7) Paragraphs (1) and
(5) do not apply to a person who administers the property of a minor in
accordance with directions given by the Royal Court under Article 7.
(8) The penalty for an
offence under paragraph (1) or (5) is imprisonment for a term of
12 months and a fine.
(9) A tuteur or former tuteur
who fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with any requirement in
Schedule 2 commits an offence and is liable to a fine of level 3 on
the standard scale.
10 General
provisions as to offences
(1) Where an offence under
this Law committed by a body corporate, limited liability partnership or
separate limited partnership, is proved to have been committed with the consent
or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of –
(a) a
person who is a partner of the partnership, or director, manager, secretary or
other similar officer of the company; or
(b) any
person purporting to act in any such capacity,
the person shall also be guilty of the offence and liable in the
same manner as the partnership or body corporate to the penalty provided for
that offence.
(2) Where the affairs of a
body corporate are managed by its members, paragraph (1) shall apply in
relation to acts and defaults of a member in connection with his or her
functions of management as if the member were a director of the body corporate.
11 Rules of court
The power in Article 13 of the Royal Court (Jersey)
Law 1948 to make rules of court includes the power to make rules of court
for the purposes of this Law.
12 Abolition of
customary law rules
The customary law requiring the formation of a tutelle and as to the appointment, duties and liabilities of the électeurs is hereby abolished.
13 Regulations
The States may, by Regulations, amend this Law.
14 Application,
transitional provisions and saving
The Minister may by Order, make provision for the application of
this Law on its commencement, and transitional provisions and savings for the
purposes of its commencement and the repeal by it of any other enactment and
the abolition by it of any rule of customary law.
15 Citation
This Law may be cited as the Children’s Property and Tuteurs
(Jersey) Law 2016.
SCHEDULE 1
(Article 2(14))
OATH OF
TUTEUR
YOU swear and promise before
God that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of tuteur in
relation to the property of .......................................... in
respect of which you have been appointed; that you will administer and
safeguard such property with equal or even greater concern than you would
manifest for your own; that you will deliver good and faithful accounts to
whomsoever may be entitled to demand the same: and that you will generally
discharge all the duties appertaining to the said office.
SCHEDULE 2
(Article 8(1))
inventories,
accounts and papers
1 Interpretation
of Schedule 2
In this
Schedule –
“appointment
date” means the date a tuteur’s
appointment takes effect, in accordance with Article 2(14);
“cessation
date” means –
(a) in relation to a tuteur who
is discharged from office under Article 5, the date of such discharge;
(b) in
relation to a tuteur whose appointment ceases under Article 6, the date of such
cessation;
“minor’s
property” means, in relation to a tuteur,
the property of the minor to which the tuteur’s
appointment extends;
“tuteur” includes a former tuteur who has been discharged from office under
Article 5 or whose appointment has ceased under Article 6.
2 Delivery
of inventory
A tuteur
must, within the period of 90 days following his or her appointment date,
deliver to the Judicial Greffier an inventory of the minor’s property.
3 Preparation
and delivery of annual accounts
(1) A
tuteur must prepare accounts in connection
with the administration of the minor’s property.
(2) Accounts
must be prepared for the period of 12 months commencing with the
appointment date and, for the duration of the tuteur’s
appointment, each anniversary of that date.
(3) The
tuteur must, as the Judicial Greffier
requires, have the accounts audited or certified by a person holding such
qualifications as the Judicial Greffier specifies.
(4) Accounts
must be prepared and a copy of them submitted to the Judicial Greffier within
the period of 30 days following the period of 12 months to which the
accounts relate.
4 Discharge
or cessation of appointment of tuteur
(1) A
tuteur must prepare accounts in connection
with the administration of the minor’s property for the
period –
(a) beginning
with the day following the end of the last period for which accounts were or
must be prepared under paragraph 3; and
(b) ending
with the cessation date.
(2) A
tuteur must, within the period of
30 days following the cessation date deliver a copy of the accounts
referred to in sub-paragraph (1) and of all accounts required under
paragraph 3 to the Judicial Greffier and –
(a) where
the tuteur is discharged from office and one or more individuals are appointed
as tuteur in his or her place – to the individual or individuals
so appointed;
(b) where
the tuteur is discharged from office and no-one is appointed as tuteur in his
or her place – to the person having parental responsibility for the
minor;
(c) where
the tuteur’s appointment ceases upon the minor attaining full age –
to the minor;
(d) where
the tuteur’s appointment ceases upon the death of the minor – to the
minor’s executor or administrator.
(3) Every
copy of accounts delivered under sub-paragraph (2) must be verified by an
affidavit sworn by the tuteur.
(4) A
tuteur must, forthwith after delivery of the
copies required by sub-paragraph (2), deliver up to the person to whom
such copies were delivered by virtue of clause (a), (b) or (c) of
sub-paragraph (2) all books, papers and other documents held by the tuteur in connection with the administration of the
minor’s property.