Rights of parents and children after divorce

If citizens have been married for a long period of time, during its dissolution, they resolve quite a few legal issues: the division of jointly-acquired property that they acquired during the marriage relationship, the procedure for raising and maintaining minor or minor children, as well as determining their permanent place of residence, amount and collection of alimony for children, etc.

However, if the resolution of material problems is fully regulated by the current legislation of Ukraine, the situation with the rights of parents to children after divorce is ambiguous.

What is the relevance of the chosen topic? In this informative article, we will talk about the rights of parents and children after divorce in Ukraine.

What rights do parents have over their children after a divorce?

The legislation of Ukraine provides that parents have the same rights in relation to common minor or minor children, even after divorce. In practice, this means that none of the child's parents can be forcibly deprived of their legal rights.

The scope of parental rights regarding children usually includes the following:

• Citizens have the overriding right to fully educate their own children;
• Citizens can involve in the education of their own children any physical persons who, in their opinion, will have a positive influence on the full development of the child;
• Citizens can transfer their minor or minor children to other legal entities (for example, kindergartens, private educational institutions, social security institutions, etc.);
• Citizens can independently choose the methods and forms of raising their minor or minor children, but they must not contradict the moral principles of society and violate the current legislation of Ukraine;
• Citizens can exercise self-defense of their minor or minor child;
• If the child's rights have been violated, citizens can apply to the relevant authorities to protect their interests;
• Each of the parents has the right to freely communicate with the joint children of the ex-spouse, except when such right is limited in accordance with the law (for example, the court has established under what circumstances the child's father has the right to communicate with her, that is, at what time or days, etc.);
• and many others.

If we are talking about minor parents, then they have the same rights in relation to joint children, like adult parents, and can implement them independently. In addition, if minor parents reach 14 years of age, they have the right to apply to judicial authorities to protect the interests of their own child.

What rights does a child have after the divorce of his parents?

A common child of a former spouse has the right to:

• Resist when parents improperly fulfill their responsibilities regarding her upbringing or maintenance;
• To protect one's rights and interests by applying to the relevant state authorities (for example, guardianship authorities);
• If the child has reached the age of 14, he has the right to protect his interests by applying to the judicial authorities;
• For education and communication with both parents (the child's parents cannot prevent her from communicating with one of them if it is against the child's interests);
• To live with one of the parents (at the same time, if there is a dispute between the parents about who their joint child will live with, then the judicial authority when making a final decision on the case may take into account her opinion about the future residence, if the child can, of course, express);
• For full maintenance and upbringing by her parents until she reaches 18 years of age, and in some cases 23 years of age (when the child continues to obtain higher education in the relevant educational institutions);
• and many others.

It is worth noting that the child's right to proper parental education is ensured by the system of state control established by current legal acts.

What are the peculiarities of the exercise of parental rights?

The UCC establishes that parents must exercise their rights and responsibilities towards the child on the basis of respect for his or her human dignity. In fact, this means that they recognize the child as an individual, regardless of his age, abilities or social status, and therefore treat his upbringing with care, necessarily taking into account his interests and needs.

In addition, parental rights cannot be exercised contrary to the interests of the child, as this is a violation of the legislation of Ukraine and grounds for the restriction or deprivation of such rights.

And therefore, the child's parents cannot refuse to raise and support the child until the child reaches 18 years of age, as such a refusal would be considered unreasonable and would contradict the moral principles of society.

If you need help protecting your rights and interests as a father or mother of a child, then in such circumstances we advise you to contact the Prikhodko and Partners law office for help.

The company's lawyers have many years of experience in application of the provisions of family legislation in practice, which allows to understand all the specifics of this issue and to provide only effective legal assistance in the case.

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