Malta has passed two laws that will change how the country deals with adults who need support to make decisions or to protect themselves, and older people are named in both. Most of what they contain is not yet in force. For anyone retiring to Malta, or with a parent who lives there, the useful question is therefore a precise one: what applies today, and what is still waiting for a ministerial commencement date?
The two laws are the Protection of Adults in Situations of Vulnerability Act, 2026 (Act No. XIV of 2026, now Chapter 659 of the Laws of Malta) and the Various Laws (Personal Autonomy) (Amendment) Act, 2026 (Act No. XIII of 2026). Both received presidential assent on 24 April 2026 and were published in the Government Gazette that day. Neither came into force on publication. Each says it comes into force on dates set by the Minister responsible for the rights of persons with disability, and that different dates may be set for different provisions.
What came into force on 17 July 2026
Two commencement notices were published on 17 July 2026.
Legal Notice 201 of 2026 brought only articles 8 and 12 and Part IX of Chapter 659 into force from that day. Legal Notice 200 of 2026 brought only articles 10, 17(a) and 30 of Act XIII into force from the same date. The consolidated Chapter 659 on legislation.mt carries the matching note: articles 8, 12 and Part IX only are in force. No further commencement notice for either Act appears among the 2026 legal notices published since.
In practical terms, that means:
- An outreach duty (article 8 of Chapter 659). The Director must engage public bodies, the private sector, civil society, persons with disability and older persons to raise awareness of abuse, harm and neglect, of the rights of adults in situations of vulnerability, of the forms of support and redress under the Act, of access to early support, and of the planned system of character checks. The information must be published in accessible formats.
- A Joint Committee (article 12). The Committee is constituted with the Director as chair and the chief executives of Aġenzija Sapport, the Foundation for Social Welfare Services, the Department for Active Ageing and Community Care and the Victim Support Agency, plus the Clinical Chair of Mental Health Services. Its experts must be trained in the needs of persons with disability and older persons. Its main job, investigating cases, depends on articles that are not yet in force.
- Data protection rules (Part IX, articles 35 to 37). The Director is the controller for personal data processed under the Act, must apply safeguards and involve a data protection officer, and may restrict certain GDPR rights only where necessary and proportionate, for as long as the reasons last.
- A State pool of support persons (article 10 of Act XIII). A substituted article 519GA of the Code of Organization and Civil Procedure requires the Minister responsible for the rights of persons with disability to appoint a pool of support persons, including advocates, legal procurators, social workers, occupational therapists and other experts. The list is to be published in the Gazette, and the remuneration of a pool member is drawn from the supported person's estate or financed by the State.
- A change of ministry (articles 17(a) and 30 of Act XIII). The regulation-making powers in the guardianship provisions of the Code of Organization and Civil Procedure (article 519N) and the Civil Code (article 188D) now refer to the Minister responsible for the rights of persons with disability instead of the Minister responsible for social policy.
None of this gives an individual a new procedure to use today. The machinery is being assembled first.
What still applies to an older adult today
Because the core of both Acts is not in force, the existing framework continues. The consolidated Civil Code and Code of Organization and Civil Procedure on legislation.mt still show it.
Guardianship
Since 2012, article 188A of the Civil Code has allowed a guardian to be appointed for an adult who has a mental disorder or other condition that makes them incapable of taking care of their own affairs. The demand goes to the Guardianship Board, a three-member body chaired by a serving or former judge or magistrate. The person concerned can ask for it themselves, and so can relatives and others listed in the law. Under article 188B the guardian safeguards the person's personal and proprietary wellbeing and acts instead of them in the acts of civil life specified in the Guardianship Order. Article 188C requires the person's will to be respected to the maximum extent possible and restrictions to be proportionate.
Interdiction and incapacitation
The older court route remains available. Under article 189 of the Civil Code and articles 520 onwards of the Code of Organization and Civil Procedure, a court can interdict or incapacitate an adult with a mental disorder or other condition that makes them incapable of managing their own affairs, and appoint a curator. Article 188A already asks families, as far as possible, to seek guardianship before interdiction or incapacitation.
A mandate given in anticipation of incapacity
For planning ahead, the instrument that works today is the mandate in article 1864A of the Civil Code, in force since 2016. It must be drawn up by a notary public in the presence of two witnesses, after a medical declaration that the circumstances require it in the person's best interests, and it is registered like other notarial acts. It only takes effect once the incapacity occurs and the Court of Voluntary Jurisdiction approves it on the mandatary's application, with any conditions the court thinks necessary. Ending it requires a notarial act, a sworn medical certificate that the incapacity has ceased, and court approval.
What Act XIII will change once it commences
Act XIII rewrites the vocabulary and the substance of capacity law. The following provisions are enacted but not yet in force.
Legal capacity is presumed. A new article 188(2) of the Civil Code guarantees every adult, including a person with disability, full juridical equality and recognition of full legal capacity. The new article 188A(1) states that it must not be read as permitting any determination of the existence or extent of a person's legal capacity, and that personal autonomy safeguards exist only to facilitate its exercise.
Guardians become support persons. The Guardianship Board becomes the Personal Autonomy Safeguards Board, with up to six members appointed after consultation with, among others, the Commissioner for Older Persons and the Victim Support Agency. Where possible, most members are to be persons with disability. It issues Personal Autonomy Safeguard Orders appointing a support person. Under the new article 188B, the support person supports or represents the person, including through co-decision-making. Representation is to be used only where supported decision-making is not practicable for a specific act, and only to the minimum extent and duration necessary. Where the person's will cannot be established, the support person follows a best interpretation of it, taking into account past statements, values, beliefs and life history.
Who can be a support person. Under the new article 519G, a support person must be at least 18, ordinarily resident in Malta and willing to act. Someone who has been declared bankrupt is excluded where the role covers financial matters, and so is anyone convicted of a crime affecting public trust, theft, fraud, misappropriation, receiving stolen property or a crime affecting the dignity of persons. Preference goes to the person the supported adult proposes or agrees to.
Money and property under supervision. Where an order covers the administration of property, the new article 519H requires the support person to file a list of assets and liabilities within two months, keep separate payment accounts, obtain the Board's prior approval for any transfer of or burden on the person's property (otherwise the act is null and void), file a sworn income and expenditure account every year, and report within 13 weeks of the person's death. Orders must be reviewed at a hearing at least every two years.
Interdiction and incapacitation are abolished. Act XIII deletes articles 520 to 525 of the Code of Organization and Civil Procedure. Transitional rules in new articles 519O and 519P keep existing guardianship orders and decrees of interdiction or incapacitation in force for their remaining term. If renewal is sought and granted, they are converted into Personal Autonomy Safeguard Orders. Applications still pending when the relevant articles commence are decided under the old rules.
Planning ahead in writing. A new article 188A(5) lets any adult record, in a written instrument communicated to the Board, their will and preferences about future safeguards, including when the Board should act as if they had applied. Its form and content are left to ministerial regulations. Article 1864A is also rewritten. The mandate is given in anticipation of "impairment or insufficiency" of personal faculties rather than "incapacity". Its activation depends on a declaration from health and social care professionals confirming the conditions listed in the mandate, and on court approval after the mandator has had the opportunity to be heard.
Inheritance. Act XIII adds three grounds to article 605 of the Civil Code, under which a person is unworthy to receive under a will. They cover wilfully inflicting physical pain or injury on the testator or their spouse, abandoning or neglecting them, and refusing or failing to fulfil a care-giving obligation or to provide maintenance, shelter, health care or protection to them in vulnerable circumstances.
What Chapter 659 will add once it commences
The rest of Chapter 659 builds a safeguarding system around the Director responsible for the Directorate for Disability Issues, with "older person" written into the definition of an adult in a situation of vulnerability. None of the following is in force yet:
- Reporting. Anyone may report an adult in need of assistance or protection to the Director, the Victim Support Agency or the police. Professionals in health care, social services, residential services and similar fields will be obliged to report, on pain of a fine of up to €5,000. Reporters' identities are protected.
- Investigation. The Director must decide within five working days whether there is sufficient reason to believe that significant harm is happening or likely, and then has 30 working days, extendable by up to 60, for investigations and assessments. Cases can be referred to the Joint Committee, which can require medical and financial records.
- Assistance with consent. Assistance under an Individualised Support Plan, such as respite and day care, social support, financial management services or residential care, requires the adult's consent.
- Court orders. The Court of Magistrates may issue Protective Intervention Orders for up to 12 months, including orders against a person who is a source of harm, such as limiting contact, keeping away from the adult's home or staying out of the adult's estate. Emergency removal requires a court order and a follow-up application within 24 hours. Plans and orders must be reviewed at least every six months.
- Character checks. People providing services aimed at adults in situations of vulnerability will need conduct certificates, and a register of persons convicted of listed offences will be kept.
- Cross-border cases. Part XII gives the Director a role under the Hague Convention on the International Protection of Adults, as implemented by Chapter 633, including in the recognition and enforcement in Malta of protective measures taken abroad.
What families can do now
Use the instruments that exist. If an older relative in Malta wants to plan for a time when they may need help, the mandate under article 1864A is available today. The Act XIII version is written but has no commencement date, and the date cannot be predicted from the published texts.
Know which regime applies to an existing order. A guardianship order or a decree of interdiction made today stays under the current rules for its term, and the new regime only takes over on renewal once the relevant articles are in force.
Watch the Gazette. Further commencement notices from the Minister responsible for the rights of persons with disability will decide when the Personal Autonomy Safeguards Board, the reporting duties and the court orders start. Several parts also depend on regulations that have not yet been published, including the form of advance instruments and support agreements.
For the wider picture of life in Malta after retirement, see the Retired Pensioner Status from 2027, the Malta Retirement Programme, how healthcare works for residents, and the moving checklist, which already lists wills and powers of attorney among the first tasks. Families with a business to pass on will also find the family business transfer rules relevant.
Work with Sebastian
If you are retiring to Malta, or supporting a parent who lives there, and want to plan for capacity, care and succession under the rules that actually apply, book a consultation.
