Guardianship (missing persons) order

The Guardianship (Missing Persons) Act 2017 lets a court appoint a trusted person to be the guardian of a missing person’s property and finances. The court does this by making a GMPO.

Visit the government website to find out how to apply to manage a missing person's finances and property.

You can apply to be a guardian if you’re a relative of the missing person and you’re over 18. 

Being someone’s guardian comes with responsibilities and rules on what you must or mustn’t do – anything you do must be in the person’s best interests. It’s important that you understand your responsibilities as a guardian. 

You can apply with others if needed.

You’ll need to specify how you’ll act to make decisions. We explain the two options available for this below.

A guardian can manage the missing person’s property and finances, which includes

• Managing a current account in Telephone Banking and Online Banking (only if they’ve been appointed to act solely)
• Using a debit card for the account (only if they’ve been appointed to act solely)
• Signing cheques 
• Having statements sent to their address
• Updating correspondence address details 
• Adding, removing and cancelling standing orders and Direct Debits
• Opening and closing accounts

If guardians are appointed to act jointly, they must make decisions together unanimously.

Guardians should keep accounts of the donor’s assets, income, spending and outgoings. The Office of the Public Guardian can ask to check these records. Those accounts should include copies of bank statements for the period they’ve been acting – we can help with this.

When the court issues a GMPO, it may add restrictions or clauses to the way the guardian can act. It‘s the guardian‘s responsibility to follow these.

What you’ll need if you’re coming to see us 

Proof of identity

If you already bank with us, you can verify your identity in one of our branches or local sites with your debit card and PIN or by using Barclays app ID.

If you don’t bank with us, you can verify your identity using Barclays Verify in our app before you visit.

If you can’t verify your identity using the app and don’t have a debit card with us, you’ll need to bring your proof of identity and address documents with you. You can find a list of acceptable documents on our account opening page. You don't need to open an account to register a power of attorney, but the documents we accept are the same.

Legal documents

You’ll need to have the all the pages of your original or certified legal document, not just the summary page.

What happens next

Once we receive everything we need, we’ll aim to set up your access within 10 working days. If we need anything else from you, we’ll email or call you.

When it’s set up, we’ll send you a letter to confirm that you have access, along with anything else you’ve asked for, such as Online and Telephone Banking details or debit cards.

The type of authority you have will affect how you can manage the person’s accounts once you’re registered with us. Depending on whether you have power of attorney, a Court of Protection order or third-party authority, you’ll have access to these features.

If you have a question or need to make a transfer but can’t visit a branch, call our Telephone Banking team on 0345 734 5345² (+44 24 7684 2100¹ if you’re abroad). You’ll need your Telephone Banking membership number and passcode when you call – we’ll have sent you this in a letter when you registered with us.