Status: 16.01.2024, 14:57 PM
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Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) proposes legal relief for unmarried fathers and homosexual couples. © Britta Pedersen/dpa
Separation, patchwork and rainbow families: family law is lagging behind reality, according to the Minister of Justice. That's what he wants to tackle now.
Berlin - According to the will of Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP), unmarried couples in Germany should also be able to adopt a child together in the future. In addition, the adoption of a child by a single spouse should be made possible. These two innovations are part of a plan for the reform of the law on children and parentage, which his ministry published today.
In addition, the federal government is planning legal relief for fathers who are not married to the mother and for homosexual couples with children. "Many children today grow up in separated families, in patchwork and rainbow families or with parents who are not married to each other," said Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP). Family law is lagging behind this new reality.
Custody to be simplified
According to the key points paper, the biological father should be able to obtain joint custody more easily in the future, even if he is not married to the mother - provided that the couple lives together. If the mother does not object, a one-sided, notarized declaration should suffice. The same should apply to lesbian couples for another mother.
Among other things, a child's own right to contact with grandparents and siblings as well as a child's own right of contact with other caregivers is to be introduced.
Parenting Agreement for Homosexual Couples
According to the ideas of the Federal Ministry of Justice, if a lesbian couple and a gay couple agree to conceive a child, it should be possible in the future to conclude a legally secure so-called parenthood agreement before conception. However, the principle that every person has two parents should not be affected in the planned reform.
In the event of parental separation, children from the age of 14 should be given more opportunities to influence decisions concerning custody and visitation rights. For example, a child from this age should be able to apply for a new decision on a contact arrangement that has already been made. So far, the young people have only been able to give the family court a suggestion to take action here. If parents who are not married to each other agree on joint custody in the future, a child from the age of 14 should also have the opportunity to object to this.
In matters relating to their child's daily life, separated parents with joint custody will also be able to make decisions on their own in the future for the period during which the child is with them. If, for example, the child is always with the father on Thursdays, the father would be allowed to register his child for violin lessons that only take place on Thursdays, according to the ideas of the Minister of Justice, even without the mother's consent.
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Transfer of "Small Custody"
According to Buschmann's plans, it should also be easier to transfer "minor custody" to grandparents, close friends, neighbors or new partners, so that they can settle simple matters on behalf of the parents, such as picking up the child at the daycare center or going to the doctor with him. Anyone who receives such custody powers by agreement should be obliged to exercise them in agreement with both parents with custody. If they live separately, it should only depend on the agreement of the parent during whose care period the matter to be decided falls.
"With the abolition of stepchild adoptions for two-mother families and the introduction of parenthood agreements, the key points provide for massive improvements for rainbow families," the Lesbian and Gay Association commented on the proposals of the Federal Ministry of Justice. On the other hand, the passage on parenthood of transgender and intersex people as well as non-binary parents is too vague. Dpa