Custody agreements
Find out more about the options for joint custody with your partner/spouse, as well as the options for legal and social parents.
If one of the child's legal parents has sole custody, they can agree to have joint custody with their partner/spouse.
Such an agreement must be approved by the Agency of Family Law, and involves calling all parties to a meeting to evaluate whether the arrangement is in the child’s best interests. As part of this process, the Agency of Family Law may contact the municipality, kindergarten, or school to enquire about the child's well-being.
These agreements are particularly common in families consisting of one legal parent and one social parent.
In such cases, the Agency of Family Law must also contact the child’s other legal parent to obtain their input on the custody arrangement, even if the other parent resides abroad. It is essential that the Agency of Family Law is able to get in touch with the other legal parent, although, their consent is not required to finalise the transfer of custody.
If there is joint custody between one legal parent and the legal parent who carried the pregnancy, it is common for that arrangement to end. The parent who then gains sole custody can agree to share custody with their partner or spouse under the conditions outlined above.
Additionally, under the Parental Responsibility Act, it is possible for two legal parents with joint custody, who are not living together, to agree that one of them will share custody with their partner or spouse. In such cases, all three individuals must meet with the Agency of Family Law, and the same case review and clarification process applies.
Please note that joint custody between a legal and a social parent is not permitted if the parents do not live together.