Parental responsibility: what if there is no agreement between the parents?

Important Children’s Issues

As stipulated in art. 97 para. 2 of the Family and Guardianship Code, the parents jointly decide on important matters concerning the child, and in case of disagreement, the guardianship court decides. Matters that “affect the further development of the child” are considered important (J. Ignaczewski, Origin, p. 165, Legalis). These include: change of surname, change of place of residence, departure abroad, registration of the child in another place. In addition, the choice of school, profession, educational field, treatment, change of citizenship and the way of securing and settling alimony obligations.

What is the procedure?

An application for a decision on important matters concerning the child under Art. 569 para. 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure may be submitted by each parent to the competent district court at the place of residence or stay of the person interested in the case. If it is not possible to determine the above-mentioned places – the district court of the capital has jurisdiction Warsaw. According to Art. 582 of the Code of Civil Procedure, a decision on important matters concerning the child and on which there is no agreement between the parents may be made only after they have been given the opportunity to submit statements, unless their hearing would entail undue difficulties. In addition, according to the content of Art. 567 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the guardianship court shall hear the legal representative and, if possible, also the close relatives and the child himself. Submitting an application requires payment of a fee of PLN 100.

Before issuing a decision, the court is obliged to hear the parties and, if possible, also the child. This is a non-contentious process initiated upon request, in accordance with art. 506 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

Suspension, restriction or deprivation of parental authority

Proceedings in cases of disagreement between parents on important issues are not intended to interfere in the sphere of parental authority, but merely to issue a court decision that replaces the consent of the parents. In addition, it should be noted that in certain situations the court may suspend, limit or even completely deprive parental authority. In the event of a temporary obstacle, such as the relocation of one of the spouses abroad, the court may suspend parental authority. It is also possible to limit parental authority under Art. 109 KRO due to a threat to the well-being of the child, for example through alcohol abuse by one of the parties. The most comprehensive form of interference is the deprivation of parental authority, which is intended to protect the child when it cannot be exercised due to a permanent obstacle, is abused or when the parents seriously neglect their duties towards the child. The condition for the deprivation of parental authority is also that the measures previously applied have proven ineffective.

Application to admit your child to school

An interesting case is submitting an application for admission of your child to school. As noted earlier, it is assumed that the choice of school is an important issue that parents decide jointly. However, the Education Act (Act of December 14, 2016, Official Gazette of 2017, item 59) does not require the application to be signed by both parents. Therefore, a situation may arise where one of the parents, being in conflict with the other parent, may submit an application for admission to school alone. Usually, school principals want to avoid such problems and require both parties to sign. Any conflict between the parties is resolved not by the school, but by the guardianship court.

Summary

Parental authority is a right and obligation of each parent, who may independently carry out certain activities related to the person and property of the child, with the exception of important matters that they are obliged to carry out jointly. Important matters include, among others: changing: name, citizenship, residence, registration or permanent departure abroad. In addition, it is up to the choice of: school, profession, educational field, treatment or guarantee and fulfillment of alimony obligations. An application for a declaration replacing parental consent may be filed with the competent district court, which requires the payment of a fee of PLN 100. The issuance of a court decision replacing the declaration of unanimous will of the parents does not interfere with the sphere of parental authority. An interesting case is the submission of an application for admission of a child to school, because the education law does not require such an application to be signed by both parents. Most often, however, the school wants to avoid possible conflict situations and requires both parents to sign.