Parental authority and access

Authority and access are two things that are related, but are really separate things.

Authority

Authority is about the right (and responsibility) to make important decisions about your child. For example, think about applying for a passport for your child, registering at a school or moving. These things require the consent of all authoritative parents. If there are two parents with authority, both parents should give permission.

If one of the parents does not consent to such an authoritative decision, the other parent can submit the matter to the judge. This requires the help of a lawyer.

Parents who are married automatically have joint authority over their children. Unmarried mothers also automatically have authority. Since January 1 ^st 2023, unmarried fathers who recognize their child also automatically have authority. Unmarried fathers who recognized their child before January 1 ^st 2023 do not automatically have authority. The parents can arrange joint authority via a form at www.rechtspraak.nl.

If the mother does not want to cooperate in joint authority, the father can ask the judge to grant him joint authority. This requires the help of a lawyer.

If there is joint authority and one of the parents believes that the other parent should no longer have authority, that parent can ask the judge to grant him or her sole authority. This requires the help of a lawyer. Joint authority is the main rule for judges. Only in special cases is joint authority changed to sole authority.

In some cases, if youth care is involved, the Child Care and Protection Board (Raad voor de Kinderbescherming) or the Certified Institution (Gecertificeerde Instelling) can ask the court to completely remove authority from the parents.

Authority and guardianship are actually the same thing. We call it ‘authority’ if the parents have authority and we call it ‘guardianship’ if a non-parent has authority.

Access

Access is about seeing the children. Parents who no longer live together naturally try to make agreements about when the children are with one parent and when they are with the other parent. This consultation often works well. Sometimes additional help is required from, for example, a mediator.

If mutual consultation fails completely, the parent who has an interest can submit the matter to the judge. The judge then decides with whom the children live (with whom they have their ‘main residence’) and when they see the other parent. This may involve physical meetings, but also for example video calling. Lawyers’ assistance is required for such a procedure.

A visitation arrangement and a care arrangement are actually the same. We call it a ‘care arrangement’ if the children have contact with a parent with authority and we call it an ‘access arrangement’ if the children have contact with a parent without authority.