Fax to the Guardianship Judge: Accounts & Petitions

Short answer: the juge des contentieux de la protection (judge for protection disputes, formerly the guardianship judge) sits at the tribunal judiciaire (civil court of first instance) or the tribunal de proximité (local court), and its registry — the "service de la protection des majeurs" (adult protection service) — remains one of the few judicial services still working largely on paper. Many of these registries keep an active fax number. But the rule is strict: a petition to open a protective measure cannot be sent by fax (it requires an original detailed medical certificate and civil status documents), and neither can a complete annual management account. Fax serves another purpose, and it is invaluable for that: getting a document requested by the registry there today, replying to a summons, flagging an urgent asset issue (imminent sale, frozen account, hospitalisation), or asking for a deadline extension. Golden rule: you fax a document into a file that is already open and numbered, never an initial application, and you back it up the same day with registered post.

Who is affected: a million people, and just as many families

According to figures from the ministère de la Justice (Ministry of Justice), around one million adults are subject to a legal protection measure in France: guardianship, simple or reinforced curatorship, judicial safeguard, future protection mandate or habilitation familiale (family authorisation). More than half of these measures are exercised by a family member — a spouse, a child, a brother or a sister — rather than by a professional court-appointed representative.

That is where the subject becomes very concrete. The professional representative has dedicated software, an office and a working familiarity with the registry. The family guardian, on the other hand, discovers all at once:

• the obligation to file annual accounts on their management (article 510 of the Civil Code);
• the need to obtain an authorisation from the judge before any act of disposal (sale of a property, closure of an account, acceptance of an inheritance, taking out or surrendering a life insurance policy);
• summonses with short response deadlines;
• a contact person who often only answers the phone at fixed times, two mornings a week.

In that situation, fax remains a formidably effective last-resort tool: it produces a time-stamped record and it lands physically on the clerk's desk, not in a generic inbox.

What the adult protection registry accepts by fax

Three categories of submissions need to be distinguished. They are not handled the same way.

1. What NEVER goes by fax

The detailed medical certificate is the most frequently misunderstood point. It must be drawn up by a doctor on the list established by the public prosecutor (available from the tribunal judiciaire, the civil court of first instance) and it is irreplaceable: a faxed copy of this document means the petition is rejected as incomplete, no discussion.

2. What works perfectly well by fax

• The missing document requested in a letter from the registry (bank certificate, proof of address, death certificate, tax assessment).
• The reply to a summons: confirmation of attendance, request for postponement on medical or professional grounds, power of attorney.
• An urgent authorisation request when a transaction is stuck: a sale agreement whose deadline is expiring, termination of a care-home lease, unfreezing an account to pay a nursing home.
• An urgent report: hospitalisation of the protected person, discovery of abuse of a vulnerable person, disappearance of an asset.
• A request for extra time to file the management account.
• The letter of resignation of a family guardian who can no longer carry the responsibility (always back it up by registered post).

3. What depends on the court

Some services accept by fax a request for a copy of a judgment, an address update, or a certificate of non-appeal. Others systematically redirect you to the post. The only way to know: call the registry and ask the question in one sentence — "do you accept a fax to add a document to file no. …?".

Finding the right number, and checking it

Fax numbers for adult protection services are almost never shown on court homepages. Three useful sources:

• Justice.fr, under "Trouver un tribunal" (Find a court): a page for each jurisdiction with contact details.
• The government directory on service-public.fr, which sometimes publishes the fax number when the court's own site does not.
• The letter received from the registry itself: the letterhead very often shows the service's fax number, and it is the most reliable source because it is the most recent.

A number found on a forum or in a search engine cache has a strong chance of being dead since the shutdown of the switched telephone network. Our guide to finding and verifying a government fax number sets out the cross-checking method, and the directory of official numbers lists the courts already verified.

Before any important transmission, run a test: a cover sheet on its own, marked "line test — do not add to file". If the confirmation comes back "OK", the number is alive.

The standard file: preparing a transmission that will actually be added to the record

A poorly identified fax ends up in the bin. The registry handles several thousand files; it will not launch an investigation to find out whose bank statement it is looking at.

The cover sheet: five mandatory items

1. File number (often in the format RG 26/00123 or "protection file no. …") — this is the single most important item.
2. Surname, first name and date of birth of the protected person, not just your own.
3. Your capacity: guardian, curator, authorised family member, substitute guardian, petitioner.
4. The subject in one line: "Additional document — bank certificate as at 31/12/2025".
5. The total number of pages and a way to reach you.

Our cover sheet generator produces this block in seconds, and the annotated template explains why every line matters before a court.

Document quality

Bank statements and tax assessments are the nightmare of fax: small type, grey screens, tightly packed tables. Three habits:

• scan at 300 dpi, in black and white, never as a compressed "colour photo";
• enlarge numerical tables to 120% before conversion, so the amounts stay legible after fax compression;
• avoid fluorescent highlighter, which comes out as a black blob — prefer a pen outline or adhesive index tabs placed in the margin and removed before scanning.

For bulky files (a property sale file, for instance), a portable sheet-fed document scanner saves you three hours of lifting a flatbed lid and produces a consistent PDF. If all you have is a smartphone, a small desktop phone tripod with side lighting gives far cleaner scans than a handheld photo — and fax forgives no blur. Our guide to preparing a PDF that transmits cleanly covers the settings.

The deadlines that matter in a protective measure

This is where fax really earns its place. A few key deadlines to know:

The classic trap: the measure lapsing. If the renewal application is not filed before the judgment expires, the measure falls away. The protected person becomes legally capable overnight, the accounts are unfrozen, and you have to start a full procedure again with a new medical certificate. When three days are left, a fax to the registry reporting the pending application — backed up by registered post the same day — can save the file.

Second trap: prior authorisation. An act of disposal carried out without the judge's authorisation is void (article 465 of the Civil Code). A notary waiting for the order before signing a deed of sale would much rather receive a faxed copy on the morning of the signing than a letter three days later.

Family authorisation: a lighter regime, but not without the registry

Habilitation familiale (family authorisation), created in 2016 and broadened in 2019, appeals to more and more families: once granted, it involves neither an annual management account to file nor periodic review by the judge. But it is applied for exactly like a guardianship, with the same detailed medical certificate and the same hearing before the judge for protection disputes. And for acts of disposal free of charge — a gift, for example — the judge's authorisation remains compulsory.

Exchanges with the registry are therefore rarer, but more decisive: when they do come, there is often no margin at all. This is the typical situation where you keep a fast means of transmission to hand rather than running to the post office.

Equipping yourself properly as a family guardian

The mandate lasts for years and generates a considerable volume of paper. A few modest purchases change daily life:

• an expanding file with dividers for each annual accounting period, so you can reconstruct a management account without digging through twelve folders;
• a practical handbook for family guardians, several editions of which are up to date with the Civil Code and available in bookshops — they set out the classification of acts and avoid half of all unnecessary authorisation requests;
• a duplex multifunction printer: the registry often asks for documents in duplicate, and automatic double-sided printing halves your paper consumption.

These investments do not replace rigour, but they reduce the risk of the costliest mistake: a document you cannot find on the day the judge asks for it.

The six-step protocol

1. Identify the file: case number, name of the protected person, name of the judge or service.
2. Call the registry to confirm that fax is accepted for this document.
3. Prepare the PDF: complete cover sheet, legible documents, continuous pagination.
4. Send and keep the transmission report, with date, time, number of pages and status.
5. Back it up by registered post the same day, stating "confirms the fax sent on … at …".
6. Follow up after 48 hours if there is no confirmation: a simple phone call is enough to check that the document has indeed been added to the file.

This discipline is the same as before a court of appeal or a conciliator of justice: fax proves a date, registered post proves the content. The two together are worth far more than either alone.

Frequently asked questions

Does the guardianship judge still exist under that name?

No. Since the 2019 reform, which came into force in 2020, the guardianship judge for adults has become the juge des contentieux de la protection (judge for protection disputes), a magistrate of the tribunal judiciaire (civil court of first instance) who often sits at the local court. The term "guardianship judge" survives for minors, where jurisdiction now lies with the family court judge. In correspondence, write "Madame, Monsieur le juge des contentieux de la protection" (Dear Judge for Protection Disputes).

Can an annual management account be faxed?

Practically never. The management account includes the statement of accounts, supporting documents for expenditure and income, sometimes dozens of pages. The registry or the court registry director who reviews it requires legible, properly ordered documents. On the other hand, a single bank certificate or a request to postpone the filing go through by fax perfectly well.

Does a fax to the registry stop the appeal clock?

No, and you should never rely on it. An appeal against a protection judgment is lodged by declaration to the registry within 15 days of notification, in the forms laid down by the Code of Civil Procedure. Fax can signal your intention and save time on an exchange of documents, but the formal step remains hand delivery or registered post. Our article on the evidential value of fax sets out what the judge takes into account.

Can the protected person write to the judge themselves?

Yes. A person under guardianship or curatorship keeps the right to apply to the judge by ordinary letter, in particular to ask for the measure to be lifted or relaxed, or to challenge their guardian's management. They can also be assisted by a lawyer and apply for legal aid.

What if the registry no longer has a fax?

Many services have cut their line. The alternatives: hand delivery at the court's reception desk against a receipt, the registry's letterbox, registered post with acknowledgement of receipt, and, for litigants represented by a lawyer, the lawyers' virtual private network. A France Services (France Services one-stop centre) point can also help you put the file together and send it: see our guide on getting help at France Services.

In summary

• The juge des contentieux de la protection (judge for protection disputes) has replaced the guardianship judge for adults; its registry is still very paper-based and often keeps an active fax line.
• Never by fax: petition to open a measure, detailed medical certificate, inventory, complete management account, notice of appeal.
• Useful by fax: an additional document in a numbered file, reply to a summons, urgent authorisation request, postponement request, urgent report.
• The cover sheet must carry the file number and the identity of the protected person — otherwise the document is not added to the record.
• The structuring deadlines: inventory within 3 months, annual management account, 5-year measure, appeal within 15 days, authorisation before any act of disposal.
• Always back it up by registered post the same day and keep the transmission report: fax dates it, registered post proves it.