Child custody in Colombia
In Colombia both parents hold parental authority, and a family commissioner or the court decides custody by the child's best interests.
Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
If the parents are married
Both parents hold parental authority.
If the parents are not married
Both parents hold parental authority once parentage is established, whether or not they are married.
The unmarried father, in one line: Both parents have it, married or not, once the father's paternity is established.
After a divorce or separation
Parents can agree on custody and contact before a family commissioner (Comisaría de Familia) or a notary. Failing agreement, a family judge decides by the child's best interests.
What the child can say
The child has a right to be heard in any proceeding that affects them.
Moving house or moving abroad with the child
The official sources do not give a simple rule on this point; where parents share responsibility, taking a child to live abroad generally needs both parents' agreement or a court's permission.
If the parents live in different countries
Colombia is a party to the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention, which lets a parent ask for a child wrongly taken to another country to be returned. It works only with countries that have accepted its accession, so check the other country on the treaty status table.
Understand the legal system first
Colombia belongs to the Civil law family. Family law grows out of the legal tradition, so it helps to know how the system works.
Read the Colombia legal-system profile in the Legal Families Atlas →
Who owns what in a marriage in Colombia? →
Divorce rate and trend in Colombia →
Official sources
Take it further
The family and property rules of a European country in one PDF, with questions for a local lawyer.
Write down parenting time and responsibilities.
Permission for a child to travel with one parent or another adult.
Marriage, divorce, custody and support, step by step.
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TheLawToKnow Tools’s child custody guide is an educational overview of general rules. It is not legal advice, and it does not replace the official source or a lawyer in the country. Report a mistake.
