Article 21. Appointment of a guardian or trustee

To perform the duties related to guardianship or trusteeship, a guardian or trustee shall be appointed by decision of the district or city khokim.

Adults may be appointed as a guardian or trustee only with their consent.

The district or city khokim appoints a guardian or trustee upon a written application by a person who has expressed a wish to become a guardian or trustee.

When appointing a guardian or trustee, account shall be taken of his or her moral and other personal qualities, ability to perform the duties, the relationships between the guardian/trustee and the person under guardianship or trusteeship, the attitude of the guardianʼs or trusteeʼs family toward the person under guardianship or trusteeship, as well as the wishes of the person under guardianship or trusteeship.

A guardian or trustee must be appointed no later than one month from the day the guardianship and trusteeship bodies became aware of the necessity to establish guardianship or trusteeship.

If a guardian or trustee is not appointed within one month to a person in need of the establishment of guardianship or trusteeship, the duties of the guardian or trustee shall be temporarily assigned to the guardianship and trusteeship body at the place where such person was identified.

With respect to minors who have parents, the competent guardianship and trusteeship body shall perform the duties of a guardian or trustee from the day it is established that they are not in the care of their parents or relatives.

For the purpose of obtaining information about a person who has expressed a wish to become a guardian or trustee, the guardianship and trusteeship body shall send written requests to law-enforcement bodies, civil status registration bodies and health-care institutions. In doing so, the guardianship and trusteeship body shall request only such information about the person as makes it possible to determine his or her ability to perform the duties of a guardian or trustee.

Information obtained by the guardianship and trusteeship body about a person who has expressed a wish to become a guardian or trustee is confidential and shall not be disclosed, except in cases provided for by law.

Regardless of place of residence, the relatives of a person in need of the establishment of guardianship or trusteeship; members of the family in which the person lives; brothers and sisters who take the person into guardianship or trusteeship without breaking kinship ties; as well as citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan, shall have a preferential right to be appointed as a guardian or trustee.