Guide
I want to be the legal guardian,
or to adopt
Someone has to be able to act for a child: to sign for school, to hold the child’s property, to travel with the child. In Pakistan that standing comes from a court. This page shows what the court decides and what it looks at.
Where this applies This page covers a child who lives in Pakistan, or whose property is there. What the country you live in requires before a child can come to live with you is decided by that country.
What this is about
Guardianship is standing. A guardian of the person looks after the child; a guardian of the property looks after what the child owns. The law that governs it is old and still in force, and it puts one thing first: the welfare of the child. The court asks what is best for the child, not who asked first.
Adoption in the sense other countries use the word does not exist in the same way in Pakistan. What a court can give is guardianship. Whether the country you live in will treat that as adoption is a question for that country, and an advocate there.
What has to be in place
What has to be clear before an application.
Where the child lives, because that decides which court.
Who the parents are, and whether they agree.
What you are asking for: the child, the child’s property, or both.
Note Your advocate confirms which of these apply to your case.
The documents you will be asked for
The papers usually asked for.
- The child’s birth certificate or family record.
- Your identity documents and proof of your relationship to the child.
- Anything about the parents: death certificates, or their written consent.
- A power of attorney if an advocate applies for you.
How an advocate helps from where you are
What an advocate does.
- Files the application in the court for the place where the child lives.
- Puts the child’s welfare to the court in the way the court expects to hear it.
- Gets the guardianship certificate, and any permission needed to take the child abroad.
What to ask before you agree
- Which court hears this, and why that one?
- Have you applied for guardianship for someone living abroad before?
- What permission is needed to take the child out of Pakistan, and can you get it?
- What do you need from me, and by when?
- What is your fee, and what is not included in it?
More in After the divorce, and the children
I have been told to get a paper, but not from whereAfter the divorce, and the children
We are divorced in Pakistan, but the country I live in does not accept itAfter the divorce, and the children
There is a case about my childAfter the divorce, and the children
Also relevant
Words you will meet
- guardianship
- The standing a court gives to act for a child or for the child’s property.
- welfare of the child
- What the court puts first when it decides.
- adoption
- Not the same as in other countries. What a court gives is guardianship.
Sources
Official pages read on 11 September 2026. The page says only what these say, and what an advocate does; nothing specific to your case.
Checked
11 September 2026
Pakistan. Sources listed at the end of the page.