A parent or relative caring for a child may need judicial authority to deal with the child’s documentation, protect inherited property or carry out responsibilities that an institution will not recognise without a court order. However, obtaining a guardianship certificate in Pakistan is not simply an administrative exercise. The Court must consider the legal basis for the application, the proposed guardian’s suitability and, centrally, the welfare of the child. (caselaw.shc.gov.pk)
An important starting point is that custody, guardianship and permission to undertake a particular act are not interchangeable. A parent may have lawful custody without being the court-appointed guardian; a guardian may require further permission before taking the child outside the Court’s jurisdiction or disposing of the child’s immovable property. (alwakeelo.com)
1. The Legal Framework
The principal legislation is the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890, read with the Family Courts Act, 1964, its applicable provincial amendments and the relevant procedural rules.
Section 5 of the Family Courts Act, read with its Schedule, places custody, parental visitation and guardianship within the Family Court’s jurisdiction. Section 25 of the Family Courts Act treats the Family Court as a District Court for proceedings under the Guardians and Wards Act and requires it to follow that Act’s procedure in matters governed by it. (law.legumlawfirm.co)
This should not be confused with section 25 of the Guardians and Wards Act, which concerns the return of a ward to a guardian’s custody. The two provisions have different functions. The Supreme Court’s decisions discussed in Saima Nazir v. Guardian Judge (IV), Lahore and another (2023 LHC 354) explain the Family Court’s exclusive role in these scheduled matters. (alwakeelo.com)
The application must also address the substantive requirements for appointment, including the welfare assessment and any restriction on replacing an existing guardian. These are judicial questions, not formalities satisfied merely by producing identity documents. (caselaw.shc.gov.pk)
2. Custody, Guardianship of the Person and Guardianship of Property
Custody concerns the child’s physical care, residence and upbringing. In Muslim personal law, the expression hizanat is commonly used in discussing the right of custody.
Guardianship of the person concerns legal responsibility for the child’s personal affairs. It may coexist with an arrangement under which another person has physical custody. The Lahore High Court explained this distinction in Saima Nazir, including the continuing responsibilities of a father even where the mother has custody. (alwakeelo.com)
Guardianship of property concerns the management and protection of assets belonging to the minor. It is not ownership of those assets. The guardian occupies a fiduciary position: the property must be administered for the child rather than treated as the guardian’s own resources. (law.legumlawfirm.co)
Before filing, the applicant should therefore identify the actual problem. Is the dispute about where the child will live, who may obtain documents, who will manage an inheritance, or whether a particular transaction or journey should be authorised? A broadly worded request for “full guardianship” may obscure rather than resolve these distinct issues.
3. When May a Guardianship Certificate Be Needed?
Documentation and the child’s day-to-day affairs
A certificate or appropriately framed court order may become relevant where a parent encounters genuine obstacles in dealing with educational or other documentation.
In Awais ul Haq v. Rabia Akhter and others, C.P. Nos. S-146 and S-147 of 2025, decided on 25 April 2025, the Sindh High Court upheld a certificate intended to facilitate the child’s educational and day-to-day documentation. Importantly, the Court treated that authority as limited to the purposes identified in the underlying orders, rather than as an unrestricted exclusion of the father. (caselaw.shc.gov.pk)
The practical lesson is to obtain the institution’s written requirements and explain the particular difficulty. The existence of a documentation problem does not establish that every divorced parent must obtain the same form of certificate.
Passport applications
The Directorate General of Immigration and Passports distinguishes between applications involving parents and those involving a court-appointed guardian. Its published requirements refer to custody papers where parents are separated or divorced, a guardianship certificate where a guardian applies, and additional parental-consent requirements in the specified separated-parent situation. (dgip.gov.pk)
Consequently, it is unsafe to assume that a certificate invariably removes every consent requirement. The application, relevant administrative rules and precise terms of any court order must be considered together.
Where a guardian has died or the existing arrangements are inadequate
A judicial appointment may be required where a child needs an appropriate person to assume legal responsibilities following a parent’s death or where an existing guardian cannot lawfully or properly continue. A surviving parent, relative or other eligible applicant must still establish suitability; family relationship alone does not answer the welfare inquiry. (law.legumlawfirm.co)
Where the father is living, the application requires particular care because section 19(b) raises a distinct issue concerning guardianship of the person. That issue is examined in the companion article.
Protecting the minor’s property
A separate property-guardianship question may arise where the child owns assets that need administration. The proposed application should identify the property, explain what requires attention and distinguish management from any proposed sale or transfer. Appointment as guardian is not itself permission to dispose of the property. (law.legumlawfirm.co)
4. Which Family Court Should Be Approached?
Territorial jurisdiction should be checked before filing, particularly where the parents live in different cities or the child has recently moved.
Section 9 of the Guardians and Wards Act addresses ordinary residence and, for property applications, the location of property. However, it must not be considered in isolation from the Family Courts Act and applicable rules.
In Usman Hamid v. Mst. Sundus Wahid and others, C.P. No. S-813 of 2020, decided on 1 December 2020, the Sindh High Court discussed the governing family-court framework, including Rule 6 of the Family Courts Rules, 1965. The relevant connections included where the cause of action arose and where the parties resided or last resided together. The judgment also recognised that disputed residence may require evidence. (caselaw.shc.gov.pk)
A recent move, an address inserted in the petition or the applicant’s preferred city should not be assumed to settle jurisdiction. Counsel should examine the child’s actual residence, the parties’ residential history, the location of the relevant events and any earlier proceedings.
5. Preparing and Filing the Application
Define the relief precisely
The petition should distinguish appointment from declaration of an existing status and specify whether the application concerns the person, property or both. It should identify the child, proposed guardian, relevant relatives, existing arrangements and earlier guardianship proceedings. Section 10 also requires a declaration of willingness to act, signed by the proposed guardian and attested by at least two witnesses. (law.legumlawfirm.co)
As a practical drafting approach, the relief should match the problem demonstrated by the evidence. A request concerning school documents should explain why that authority is needed. A property application should identify the assets and proposed management arrangements. A proposed move should not be hidden within general language about the child’s welfare.
Assemble supporting documents
A useful preparation file will ordinarily include available identity and birth records, relevant marriage or dissolution documents, existing custody and visitation orders, and the documents explaining why judicial authority is being sought.
Depending on the dispute, counsel should also consider school records, medical records, maintenance receipts, correspondence between the parents, institutional refusals and evidence of the proposed care arrangements. For property matters, obtain the ownership documents and a clear account of the minor’s interest.
These are preparation recommendations, not a uniform national checklist. The correct documents depend on the pleaded facts and the relief required.
Address notice and service honestly
Section 11 provides for notice to the specified parents, custodians and other persons, together with publication as directed under the statutory framework. Section 13 contemplates evidence both supporting and opposing the application. (law.legumlawfirm.co)
The petition should disclose accurate addresses and existing proceedings. Where a parent lives abroad, cannot be traced or is alleged to be avoiding service, explain the circumstances and seek appropriate directions. Do not substitute a convenient address or conceal a known parent merely to obtain an uncontested order.
Prepare evidence, not only allegations
A guardianship application may fail because the necessary factual foundation was never established. In Manahil Imran and another v. Muhammad Sadiq Khurshid and another, the absence of evidence and a finding concerning the father’s alleged unfitness was decisive in the certificate dispute. (caselaw.shc.gov.pk)
Preparation should therefore connect each significant allegation with identifiable evidence. Instead of merely stating that a parent is “irresponsible”, explain the particular duty neglected, the relevant period, the effect on the child and the documents or witnesses supporting that account.
6. Can the Court Give Interim Protection?
Section 12 permits interim orders concerning production of the child and temporary protection of the child’s person or property. Such an application should identify the immediate problem requiring intervention rather than simply repeat the final prayer. (law.legumlawfirm.co)
In a genuine emergency involving recent removal from lawful custody, a separate urgent remedy may also require consideration. The Sindh High Court’s order in Mst. Sana’s petition concerning minor Barira, dated 13 September 2024, distinguished urgent restoration of interim custody from the Family Court’s ultimate determination. The appropriate remedy depends on the circumstances; guardianship proceedings and emergency recovery proceedings should not be treated as identical. (caselaw.shc.gov.pk)
7. What Does the Certificate Not Authorise?
It does not necessarily determine every custody or visitation question
Read the operative order, not merely the heading “Guardianship Certificate”. In Awais ul Haq, the certificate’s limited functions, the existing custody arrangement and the father’s visitation were considered separately. The Court did not treat the certificate as eliminating the father’s relationship with the child. (caselaw.shc.gov.pk)
It does not automatically authorise travel or relocation
Section 26 restricts removal of a ward from the Court’s jurisdiction by a court-appointed or declared guardian of the person, subject to its exceptions and any leave granted. Obtaining a passport and obtaining permission to relocate are different questions. (law.legumlawfirm.co)
A proposed relocation application should therefore explain the destination, purpose, schooling, accommodation and arrangements for contact with the other parent. These are matters to address expressly, not assumptions to leave unresolved after obtaining a certificate.
It does not provide unrestricted power to sell the child’s property
For a court-appointed property guardian within section 29, specified dealings in immovable property require prior permission. Section 31 requires necessity or an evident advantage to the ward before that permission is granted. The Court may impose safeguards concerning the transaction and its proceeds. (law.legumlawfirm.co)
The applicant should be prepared to explain why the transaction benefits the child, how the proposed price was assessed, where the proceeds will be held and how they will be used.
Conclusion
Obtaining a guardianship certificate requires more than selecting a standard form. The application should identify the correct legal responsibility, the competent Family Court, the evidence supporting appointment and the limits of the authority actually required.
For parents and relatives seeking a guardianship lawyer in Karachi or elsewhere in Pakistan, an early review of the existing orders, institutional requirements and family circumstances can help identify whether the appropriate course is guardianship, custody proceedings, a specific direction or a separate permission application.
Legum Law Firm advises and represents clients in guardianship, custody, visitation and related family-law matters. The objective is an order that addresses the child’s needs without creating avoidable uncertainty about either parent’s responsibilities.
This article provides general information concerning guardianship of minors in Pakistan. Applicable personal law, provincial amendments, procedural rules and the particular facts should be examined before proceedings are commenced.
