As is well known, judicial guardianship (full deprivation of legal capacity) renders a person incapable of performing legal acts. But what happens in the case where the transfer of a property owned by such a person is deemed beneficial, and how can this property actually be transferred in practice?
According to the provisions of the first two paragraphs of Article 1682 of the Greek Civil Code, titled “Operation of Judicial Guardianship,” it is stipulated that, in every case of restrictive judicial guardianship, unless the law provides otherwise, the provisions regarding the guardianship of minors apply correspondingly. The supervisory duties of judicial guardianship are exercised by a council composed of three to five members, appointed by the same decision that appoints the judicial guardian, from relatives or friends of the ward (supervisory council).
Furthermore, according to Article 1678 of the same Code, the imposition of full deprivation of legal capacity on the ward must be explicitly stated in the court decision. Unless otherwise specified by law or judicial decision, the ward cannot personally carry out acts if the guardianship is restrictive, and if it is supportive, cannot perform acts without the consent of the judicial guardian, similar to the limitations applying to the guardian of a minor without court permission, nor can the ward conduct related lawsuits.
Finally, pursuant to Article 1624 of the Civil Code, titled “Acts with Court Permission,” it is stated that “the guardian, without the opinion of the supervisory council and permission of the court, does not have the right in the name of the minor: 1. to dispose of the minor’s property in whole or in part, 2. to sell or acquire in exchange immovable property or real rights on third-party property, 3… 4…”
From the combination of the above provisions of the Civil Code, it clearly follows that if the judicial guardian of a ward under full judicial guardianship wishes to dispose of a property asset of the ward, the provision of Article 1624 of the Civil Code applies. Therefore, the guardian must file an application to the competent court, in accordance with Article 797 of the Code of Civil Procedure, adjudicated under the voluntary jurisdiction procedure (Articles 739, 740 of the Code of Civil Procedure), requesting permission to dispose of the property. A necessary prerequisite for all the above is the prior written opinion of the supervisory council.
