A child shall always have a person with child custody until the child turns 18. In this article we’ll look further into a parent’s responsibilty after the Norwegian law. Who has child custody and what can the parents decide?
Child custody: married couples and cohabitants with common child
This parents will always have joint responsibility. This also applies during the seperation time. If the parents get a child in the separation time before they are divorced, they’ll still have joint responsibilty. The parents are not allowed to agree that only one one them shall have the child custody.
Child custody without beeing married or cohabitants
The child custody will depend on when the child is born. If the child is born after January 1st 2020, the parents will have joint resposibility, no matter marriage or cohabitance. If the child is born before January 1st 2020, the mother will have the responsibility if nothing else is decided. This applies even though the parents move together after the child is born. You still need to decide joint responsibility.
Child custody divorce
When a married couple gets a divorce, they have to decide who gets the child custody. The starting point is that the child custody continues to be shared. However, the parents have freedom of content for questions about child custody. They can decide that one of the parents shall have custody alone, or if they shall continue with joint responsibility. Before a decision is made, the parents have joint responsibility.
Child custody court judgement
Even though the parents don’t agree about shared cudstody, the court can give custody to one of the parents. The threshold for this is high, but there are some occasions that may justify a judgement by the court.
If the conflict between the parents is so permanent that shared child custody will be very difficult and harmful for the child, the court can give custody to one of the parents. The court usually decides to give custody to the mother, but the law don’t exclude the court from giving it to the father.
The court can also deprive child custody for one parent, if he or she is unable or isn’t suitable to have child custody. This is espesially relevant if one of the parents is violent or have intoxiation problems.
Child custody consequences
Having a child custody, is not the same as having the right to see your child. A parent can have visitation right, without having child custody. The parent with child custody has extended rights. This parent has the authority to make major decisions on behalf of the child, such as to choose school, medical treatment or name.
We offer 30 minutes free case clarification for cases related to familiy law. Contact us on post@reinholdt.no or +47 23 68 85 58
