Child custody in Romania

Both parents hold parental authority equally: the rights and obligations are shared equally (Art. 503 of the Civil Code).

Where parentage is established for both parents and they live together, authority is shared equally (Art. 505). Where they do not live together, authority is exercised by only one parent. The official fact sheet does not say which one.

The unmarried father, in one line: The official source does not say; check before relying on it.

Authority is in principle shared by both parents after divorce. It can go to one parent only if there are good reasons and it is in the child's interest. Parents who do not live together must agree on the child's residence, and the guardianship court decides if they cannot.

The official fact sheet does not describe a right to be heard. Minors from 14 to 18 have limited capacity and act with their parents' consent.

The official fact sheet does not cover moving.

Romania 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.

Within the EU, Regulation (EU) 2019/1111 (called Brussels IIb) decides which country's courts handle parental responsibility: in principle the courts of the country where the child habitually lives, and it speeds up the return of a child wrongly taken to another member state. Denmark does not take part in it.

Romania 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 Romania legal-system profile in the Legal Families Atlas →
Who owns what in a marriage in Romania? →
Divorce rate and trend in Romania →

• European e-Justice Portal: parental responsibility, child custody and contact rights in Romania