Legal capacity: personal and financial

Legal competence is of two types: personal competence and financial competence. Personal competence involves the right to manage one's personal affairs, excluding financial matters. Financial competence involves the right to manage one's financial affairs.

Individuals attain legal competence at the age of 18, becoming both personally and financially competent.

Deprivation of legal competence

If necessary, and if other, less severe measures in the form of assistance have been exhausted, it is permissible by a judge's ruling to temporarily deprive an individual of legal competence. If an individual is deprived of personal competence, financial competence, or both, the district commissioner appoints a legal guardian for them.

The reasons for deprivation can be that the individual is unable to manage their personal affairs or finances

• due to mental or physical underdevelopment

• due to senility or dementia

• due to mental illness

• due to other serious health conditions

• due to excessive drinking or substance abuse

An individual can request to be deprived of legal competence themselves.

Deprivation of legal competence can last for six months or more. The deprivation automatically ends at the conclusion of the deprivation period unless a request for its extension has been made in court beforehand.

It is possible to file a request in the district court to lift the deprivation of legal competence if the reasons for the deprivation no longer exist.