Nowadays, more and more couples end up breaking up their married cohabitation in order to follow separate paths. In the context of marital cohabitation, the acquisition of children but also the relationship between themselves and their children is the subject of legal issues that have occupied Greek law and jurisprudence for several years and their resolution becomes quite difficult.
Parental responsibility includes the custody of each minor child that the current Greek law is required to appoint to one of the two parents with a final decision issued by the competent courts.
The issue of custody of minor children has always been a problem, as the courts sought the best possible solution in the best interests of the child, which lies in proper upbringing, education, upbringing, but also good mental health, in order to develop a complete personality.
The goal of custody and consequently of custody by both parents, is the overall care for the physical, mental and psychological development of the child. The co-care is mainly aimed at the situation of joint responsibility and is a plan based on serving the mental and material needs of the child. Whether this solution is decided by the parents together or by the judges, this decision must be made with a rational approach to the needs of the child, as well as the activities that will follow based on his skills.
This legislative initiative aims to provide more and better time between each parent and the children, because time is now set equally for both. With the reform of Family Law, the provisions and articles of the Civil Code are redrafted and aimed mainly at ensuring the interest of the child to continue his life at a normal pace without being affected by the termination of cohabitation of his parents. They aim at the dialogue between the parents before a joint decision is made concerning the child and at their active presence throughout the course of his life from now on.
In addition, Article 1511 of the Civil Code is amended in such a way that the assignment of parental care needs necessary conditions, such as the contribution of each parent to the upbringing and education of his child throughout the previous period, if he met the rights but and the responsibilities he has towards the child and in general his intention to participate in the decisions concerning his future and life. For the first time, the opinion of the child is taken into account in order to give him the opportunity at his discretion to choose his place of residence after the cessation of cohabitation of his parents. The court judges the maturity of the child and in addition provides him with guidelines in order to finally achieve his interest.
The Law now explicitly stipulates the joint exercise of parental responsibility in case of termination of the cohabitation of the spouses and one of them with whom the child now resides, undertakes acts that concern him / her if the other parent is first informed about these acts.
Parents respectively can decide differently on how the exercise of parental responsibility will be distributed to both. Both decide on the place of residence where the child will now live. This is implemented with a private contract which can be updated every two years.
In the event that a joint decision is not possible, each of them has the right to go to court to decide the issues that have arisen, so that the court can decide according to what it deems most appropriate.
In addition, special mention is made of children born out of wedlock of their parents. Parental responsibility for a child born out of wedlock belongs exclusively to his mother. Parental responsibility is shared equally by the father only on condition that he has made voluntary or judicial recognition.
The goal is therefore not for each parent to act voluntarily but to have the consent of the other. You provide for an exception to this rule in certain cases, which are of a normal or urgent nature as acts of custody. Each parent can claim alimony from the other for the needs and interests of the child. On other issues that are important for the course of the child's life, such as education, health issues, decisions must be made jointly.
One of the most important issues that occupied the jurisprudence and the legislation is that of the communication of the parent with whom the child does not live. According to the current legislation, the communication with the child and the parent who lives in a different home from that is determined, ie the physical presence of the parent but also the residence of the child in his home. The time of communication of the parent with whom the child does not live is presumed to be 1/3 of the total time of communication unless something different has been agreed or if the circumstances and the interest of the child do not allow it.
The only exception to the rule is the fact that the parent has been irrevocably convicted of domestic violence, crimes of sexual liberty or crimes of financial exploitation of sexual life.
In all other cases, the direct contact and communication of the other parent with the child should not be hindered, but also with the parents (grandparents) as well as the other siblings.
The parent should try to contribute to the better development of the personality, but also the sociability of the child. Contact with third parties helps in the socialization and adaptation of the child to society.
In case one of the two parents is unable to cope or does not fulfill his / her duties towards the child, this will result in the removal of parental responsibility from that parent. In the event that these criteria are met in the person of both parents, the court may order the custody of the child to a commissioner.
All of the above contribute to the competent court to assess whether the necessary conditions are met for whether both parents can jointly exercise parental responsibility and custody of the child. If even one of the criteria set by law is met, the court acts in the best interests of the child and with a view to protecting him. It therefore orders all appropriate measures to address the situation.