Exercise of parental authority

Verified 24 May 2024 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

You want to know what parental authority is, how it is exercised, when it ends? We present you with the information you need to know.

Parental authority corresponds to all the rights and duties that parents have vis-à-vis their minor child.

These rights and duties must be exercised in the interests of the child. They must protect him in his safety, his health, and his morals. They must also ensure his education and allow his development in the respect due to his person.

In order to carry out their function, parents have a duty of command and control over the child and his or her property.

In return, the child owes honor and respect to his parents at all ages.

Duties about the child

Parents have the following rights and duties with respect to their child:

  • Right and duty to surveillance and protection. Parents must ensure the child's safety, monitor their relationships, movements, communications, use of social networks...
  • Duty education. Parents must ensure the child's academic, intellectual, moral and possibly religious education. Parents who do not insure compulsory education of their child are subject to sanctions (e.g. fines).
  • Duty to ensure his health
  • Duty maintenance. Each of the parents must contribute to the material maintenance of the child, that is to say to feed him, shelter him, provide for his needs (leisure, culture).
  • Duty of protection of privacy and image

Duties on the child's property

Parents have legal administration, that is, they have the right and duty to manage their child's property.

They also have the lawful enjoyment of the child's property.

In principle, the parents jointly exercise parental authority.

Please note

Parents may not renounce the exercise of parental authority. Only a decision of the judge may, under certain conditions, provide for a delegation of the exercise of parental authority or the withdrawal of parental authority.

If the child is recognized late

When the parentage is established in respect of the second parent more than 1 year after the birth of the child, the first parent remains alone invested in the exercise parental authority.

However, the parent who recognized the child late may also be assigned the exercise of parental authority under certain conditions.

In case of separation

Separation of parents does not change the devolution of parental authority.

However, a family court judge may entrust the exercise of parental authority to a single parent.

In the event of the death of a parent or parents

If one of the parents dies, the other parent alone exercises parental authority.

If the child had only one parent or both parents die, a guardianship is set up.

In case of adoption

In case full adoption by a couple, the adopters exercise parental authority, excluding biological parents. If the child is adopted by a single person, it shall exercise alone parental authority.

In the case of simple adoption, the adopters exercise parental authority.

If the child is adopted simply by the spouse, partner of Civil partnerships, or common-law partner of his biological parent, the latter alone retains the exercise of parental authority. However, they may exercise joint parental authority by filing a joint statement to the Registrar of the Court of Justice. The biological parent, who is not the spouse of the adopter and who consents to the adoption, loses the exercise of parental authority.

In the case of legal establishment of filiation

When the parentage is judicially established in the case of the second parent, the first parent shall remain the sole beneficiary of the exercise of parental authority.

However, the court may also decide on the exercise of parental authority.

In the presence of a parent who is unable to express his or her will

A parent who is unable to express his or her will because of his or her incapacity, absence or any other cause (for example, serious illness) is deprived of the exercise of parental authority.

FYI  

The loss of the exercise of parental authority must be established by a judge.

Parental authority shall be exercised with due respect for the child's person, without physical or psychological violence.

Parents associate the child with decisions that affect them, depending on their age and maturity.

Acts concerning the person of the child

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Joint exercise by parents

Usual acts

In case ofjoint exercise of parental authority, a parent may do, alone, a customary act.

The usual act is a daily act, without gravity, which does not commit the child’s future or his or her fundamental rights or which is part of an earlier uncontested practice.

When performing a customary act, the parent exercising parental authority shall be presumed to have the agreement of the other when it acts to a third party (e.g. from a doctor or school). The third party does not have to ascertain the agreement of the other parent, it is up to the parent who does the usual act to ascertain that the other parent agrees.

FYI  

The parent who disagrees with the usual action of the other parent may inform the third party of his disagreement. In this case, the third party can no longer act.

In the event of difficulty as to whether or not an act is customary, the judge shall assess the matter on a case-by-case basis. The judge shall take into account in particular the context in which the act is carried out.

The judges considered the following acts to be customary:

  • Administrative: application for a NIC or passport, issuing diplomas, leaving the national territory when a judge has not prohibited it...
  • Education: expungement or enrollment in a public school, justifications for occasional absences from school, day trips
  • Health: compulsory care (vaccinations imposed by law...), routine care (superficial injuries, benign infections, routine dental care, treatment of ordinary childhood illnesses), continuation of treatment for recurrent illness, circumcision relevant to medical necessity, access to the minor's medical file for the routine medical follow-up of the child, occasional sessions with a psychologist...
  • Right to the image: dissemination of a photo of the child to a small circle of persons composed of their relatives
Unusual acts

Unusual acts are significant acts who require the agreement of the 2 parents.

For example, the following acts are considered unusual:

  • Heavy medical treatment
  • Prolonged hospitalization
  • Planned surgery
  • Change in school orientation
  • Registration of the child in a private institution
  • Religious education given or not to the child
  • Playing a dangerous sport
  • Dissemination of photos of the child on social media
  • Passage of the child on television
If parents disagree

If the parents disagree on the carrying out of an act (usual or non-usual), they can refer the matter to the Family Court (Jaf) using the following form:

Application to the family judge (parental authority, right of access, maintenance...)

The lawyer is not required for this procedure.

The application must be addressed to the judge of the court of justice of the place of residence of the parent with whom the minor child habitually resides. If the parents live together, the request should be addressed to the Jaf: titleContent of the court of justice the place where the family's residence is located.

Who shall I contact

FYI  

In the event of disagreement between the parents on the exercise of the right to the child's image, the Jaf may prohibit one of the parents from broadcasting any content relating to the child without the authorization of the other parent.

Single parent exercise

The parent exercising parental authority makes all the decisions alone concerning the child's person. He doesn't have to consult the other parent.

A parent who does not exercise parental authority shall retain the right and duty to supervise the maintenance and upbringing of the child. They must be informed of important choices about their lives.

Warning  

A parent who does not exercise parental authority is not a parent from whom parental authority has been withdrawn. He has parental authority without exercising it, that is to say, he does not make decisions about the child.

Acts concerning the property of the child

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Joint exercise of parental authority by parents

In the case of jointly exercised parental authority, the parents administer the goods together of their child.

Certain particularly serious acts must be investigated authorization by the juvenile guardianship judge in particular:

  • Pure and simple acceptance of a succession
  • Conclusion of a loan in his name
  • Waiver of a right (e.g. succession)
  • Purchase or lease of property of the minor by the parent

The application for authorization to the judge is made with the application form request next:

Application to the guardianship judge for authorization of an act in the framework of a legal administration

The request must be addressed to the guardianship judge of the place of residence child's current.

If one of the parents disagrees with the other in carrying out an act, he may be authorized by the judge to carry out that act alone. The application must be submitted using the following application form:

Application to the guardianship judge in case of disagreement on an act in the framework of a legal administration

The request must be addressed to the guardianship judge of the place of residence child's current.

Some acts are prohibited.

Parents may never, even with the authorization of the judge, do the following:

  • Removing property or property rights from the minor's property free of charge
  • Acquire from another person a right or claim against the minor
  • To engage in trade or a liberal profession on behalf of the minor
  • Transferring property or rights of the minor to another person

If a family member (uncle, aunt, grandparent...) or a professional (banker, notary...) wants report abuse or have an act checked, he must apply to the judge using the following form:

Application to the guardianship judge for supervision in the context of a legal administration

The request must be addressed to the guardianship judge of the place of residence child's current.

Exercise of parental authority by a single parent

The parent exercising sole parental authority administered alone the child's property.

Certain particularly serious acts must be authorized by the juvenile guardianship judge, in particular:

  • Pure and simple acceptance of a succession
  • Conclusion of a loan in his name
  • Waiver of a right (e.g. succession)
  • Purchase or lease of property of the minor by the parent

The application for leave to the judge is made using the following application form:

Application to the guardianship judge for authorization of an act in the framework of a legal administration

The request must be addressed to the guardianship judge of the place of residence child's current.

Some acts are prohibited.

The parent may never, even with the authorization of the judge, do the following:

  • Removing property or property rights from the minor's property free of charge
  • Acquire from another person a right or claim against the minor
  • To engage in trade or a liberal profession on behalf of the minor
  • Transferring property or rights of the minor to another person

If a family member (uncle, aunt, grandparent...) or a professional (banker, notary...) wants report abuse or have an act checked, he must apply to the judge using the following form:

Application to the guardianship judge for supervision in the context of a legal administration

The request must be addressed to the guardianship judge of the place of residence child's current.

Parental authority shall cease:

Please note

In some cases, parental authority may be delegated to a third party, by decision of the judge until he or she reaches the age of majority.

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