Hey bunqers 🌈,
In case you’ve been put under guardianship, this topic will provide you with all the information you need regarding the whole process and how this affects your bunq account.
Heads up: From December 28, 2021, we paused the opening of new accounts for people under legal guardianship. If you already have an existing account with us that you activated before this date, this change won’t affect you in any way!
What's legal guardianship?
A legal guardianship is a measure ruled by court to protect you and your finances. Individuals who may struggle with managing their finances or making reasonable decisions can be assigned a legal guardian. This guardian steps in to help them handle these matters. So let’s see what happens next. From the moment a court decision for guardianship has been ruled on, you're put under administration and are assigned a public registration.
How does this affect my bunq account?
Step 1. We’ll let you know
When we’re contacted by a legal guardian and receive all the necessary documentation (including the court decision) from them, we put the relevant account under legal guardianship and inform you right away in the app.
To check your received messages from bunq you can follow these steps:
Tap on your Profile in the top left corner
Click on “See More” under Activity
Check out the messages sent there
Step 2. Limitations on your accounts
When we receive a document to block your account(s) because you were declared under legal guardianship by the relevant court, we will block all your liable monetary accounts. The accounts remain blocked until we receive a signed request by the legal guardian appointed by the court to unblock one particular monetary account or all of your monetary accounts.
We comply with a variety of requests which the legal guardian may have keeping in mind the limitations of the applicable law.
If or when the legal guardian requests all available amounts in your liable monetary accounts, we’ll transfer these amounts to the dedicated bank account provided by them.
Step 3. Unblocking your account
There are two ways to get your account unblocked and released from the guardianship.
A court order from the same court that made the initial decision that declares that the legal guardianship has ended is submitted to us.
Your curator contacts us with a request to end the legal guardianship on your account by providing us with the court order.
We can only accept the court orders when they're submitted by your legal representative, bailiff, or creditor to our dedicated email: guardianship@bunq.com.
If you’re under legal guardianship and would like to get your account released from the guardianship, please ask the appropriate party to send the documents on your behalf.
When will my account be unblocked?
This depends on the instructions of the legal guardian. To have your account unblocked, please contact your legal guardian.
If your account was requested to be permanently terminated by your legal guardian, we will have to comply with their order as they have the legal rights to do so.
My account was blocked on request of my legal guardian. How can I reactivate it?
In this case, your legal guardian asked us to block your account. If you want to have access to your account again, you have to discuss this with your legal guardian.
If you and your guardian reach an agreement, your legal guardian can email us at guardianship@bunq.com with both of the following documents:
The courter order
I have another question about legal guardianship. Who do I contact?
We've shared the available details about the guardianship. For more specific advice and assistance, it would be best to contact your respective legal guardian. They'll be able to provide you with more detailed information.
When will my legal guardianship end?
As soon as a judge ruled on the termination of your legal guardianship. When that happens we must receive the verdict.