Article 63 of the RF IC. Rights and responsibilities of parents in the upbringing and education of children (current version)

Rights and responsibilities of parents and children

With the birth of children in the family, new legal relations arise - between parents and children.

The basis of the rights and obligations of parents and children is the child’s descent from these parents.

If the parents are married, then his origin is certified by a marriage record. The paternity of a person who is not married to the child’s mother is established, firstly, by submitting a joint application to the civil registry office by the father and mother of the child, and secondly, in court at the request of one of the parents. In this case, the court takes into account any evidence that reliably confirms the origin of the child from a specific person. But there may be circumstances when the court cannot establish and recognize paternity. In this case, the surname of the child's father is written according to the mother's surname, the first and patronymic of the child's father - according to her instructions. The same is done when the mother does not want paternity to be established in court.

The rights of the child are numerous and varied .

Every child has the right to live and be raised in a family, the right to know his parents, the right to their care, the right to live together with them, except in cases where this is contrary to his interests. A child has the right to be raised by his parents, to ensure his interests, comprehensive development, and respect for his human dignity. The child has the right to communicate with both parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters and other relatives. If the parents live separately, the child has the right to communicate with each of them.

The child has the right to protection of his rights and legitimate interests from abuse by his parents (persons in their stead). The child has the right to express his opinion when deciding any issue in the family that affects his interests, as well as to be heard during any judicial or administrative proceedings. Taking into account the opinion of a child who has reached the age of ten is mandatory, except in cases where this is contrary to his interests. The child has the right to a first name, patronymic and last name.

Parents have equal rights and bear equal responsibilities towards their children (parental rights). Parents are responsible for the upbringing and development of their children. They are obliged to take care of the health, physical, mental, spiritual and moral development of their children. Parents are obliged to ensure that their children receive basic general education. Parental rights terminate when children reach the age of majority.

If parents maliciously evade fulfilling their responsibilities, the law provides for the possibility of depriving parental rights in court. Deprivation of parental rights is an extreme measure of punishment; it consists in the termination of all rights of parents in relation to the child. If it is impossible to transfer the child to another parent or in the event of deprivation of parental rights of both parents, the child is transferred to the care of the guardianship and trusteeship authority. Parents (one of them) can be restored to parental rights in cases where they have changed their behavior, lifestyle and attitude towards raising a child.

If leaving a child with the parents or one of them is dangerous for him (mental disorder or other chronic illness, difficult circumstances, etc.), the court may decide to take the child away without depriving them of parental rights. This is called restriction of parental rights.

Parents are required to support their minor children. If the parents do not provide maintenance, the funds (they are called alimony) are collected from them in court on a monthly basis in a certain amount. Parents are also required to support their disabled adult children who need help. Able-bodied adult children, in turn, are obliged to support and care for their disabled parents in need of help.

In the Russian Federation, children left without parents are surrounded by attention and care. They are subject to transfer for upbringing to a family (for adoption, guardianship, trusteeship or a foster family), and in the absence of such an opportunity - to institutions for orphans or children left without parental care. When placing a child, his national origin, belonging to a particular religion and culture, native language, and the possibility of ensuring continuity in upbringing and education must be taken into account.

Adopted children are equal in personal non-property and property rights and obligations to relatives by origin. The secrecy of the adoption of a child is protected by law. Guardianship is established over children under the age of fourteen. Guardianship is established over children aged fourteen to eighteen years. A foster family is formed on the basis of an agreement on the transfer of a child to be raised in a family.

Thus, parents have the right and obligation to raise their children, and children not only have the right to such upbringing, but are also obliged to conscientiously fulfill the demands of their parents.

Parents have the right to raise a child, and also bear responsibility and responsibilities for the upbringing and development of the child. According to the Family Code of the Russian Federation, this is called parental rights.

Parental rights terminate when children reach the age of 18 (the age of majority), as well as when minor children marry and in other cases established by law when children acquire full legal capacity before reaching adulthood.

Parents have the right:

• protect the rights and legitimate interests of children, speak before individuals, including in courts, their legal representatives without obtaining special powers;
• to ensure that the state makes it generally accessible and free for their children to receive basic general education;
• to choose for their children (before they receive basic general education) forms of education and types of educational institutions, including family education or in non-state educational institutions;
• to reimburse at the expense of the state the costs of educating children in non-state educational institutions that have state accreditation and implement general education programs;
• for the admission of children for study in educational institutions located at the place of residence;
• to familiarize yourself with the charter of the educational institution and other documents regulating the organization of the educational process;
• to participate in the management of the educational institution in which their children study;
• to get acquainted with the progress and content of the educational process, as well as with assessments of the progress of their children;
• to transfer a child receiving education in a family to continue education in a general education institution with positive certification;
• express consent (or disagreement) for children to undergo military training in civilian educational institutions on an optional basis:

- ensure the religious and moral education of children in accordance with their own beliefs; - for assistance from the state in fulfilling their responsibilities for the education and upbringing of children; - to care and support from their adult children, if the parents have not been deprived of parental rights; — parents living separately from the child have the right to communicate, participate in upbringing, resolve educational issues, and receive information about their child from educational, educational and other institutions (restrictions are possible only if there is a threat to the life or health of the child).

Parents are obliged:

• ensure and protect the rights and interests of their children, not cause harm to the physical and mental health of children, their moral development;
• raise children, excluding neglectful, cruel, rude, degrading treatment, insult or exploitation;
• ensure that children under 15 years of age receive basic general education in a general education school or in another educational institution equivalent in status;
• comply with the charter of the educational institution;
• to prevent improper interference in the work of teachers on issues that, by their nature, fall within the scope of the teacher’s professional responsibilities;
• to provide, within the limits of their abilities, the living conditions necessary for the normal development of the child;
• support their minor children (the procedure and forms for providing maintenance to children are determined by the parents independently; if parents do not provide maintenance to their minor children, funds for the maintenance of children (alimony) are collected from the parents (parent) in court).

For failure to fulfill or improper fulfillment of parental responsibilities, as well as for committing offenses against their children, parents bear administrative, criminal and other liability.

What administrative penalties can be applied to parents?

Commissions for the affairs of minors and the protection of their rights can apply administrative measures to parents (announce a public reprimand or warning, impose an obligation to make amends for the harm caused or impose a fine):

• in case of malicious failure of parents to fulfill their duties in raising and educating children;
• for driving them to a state of intoxication or consuming drugs without a doctor’s prescription;
• for violations of traffic rules by teenagers under 16 years of age;
• for the appearance of children in public places while drunk, as well as for their drinking of alcoholic beverages or in connection with the commission of other offenses.

In what cases are parents held criminally responsible?

The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for special provisions on the criminal liability of parents for:

• involving minor children in committing a crime through promises, deception, threats or in any other way;
• involvement of a minor in the systematic use of alcoholic beverages and intoxicants;
• involvement in prostitution, vagrancy or begging;
• failure to fulfill or improper fulfillment of responsibilities for raising children, if these acts are associated with cruel treatment;
• malicious evasion of payment of funds for child support.

Who is responsible for harm caused by a child under 14 years of age?

Parents, unless they prove that the harm was not their fault. If at the time of the harm the minor was under the supervision of a school, hospital, health camp, etc., the institution will be responsible for the harm unless it proves that the harm did not arise through its fault. But if the parents do not have sufficient funds to compensate for the harm, and the offender himself, having become legally capable, has such funds, the court has the right to demand compensation for the harm from the one who caused it.

Who and under what circumstances can deprive parents of parental rights or limit their rights?

Parents may be by court if they:

• evade fulfilling parental responsibilities, including maliciously evading payment of alimony;
• abuse parental rights;
• ill-treat children, including mental and physical violence, attacks on sexual integrity;
• committed a crime against the life or health of the spouse.

If there is an immediate threat to the child's life or health, the guardianship and trusteeship authorities may immediately take the child away from the parents based on a decision of the local government.

Taking into account the interests of the child, the court can take the child away from the parents without depriving parental rights (limitation of parental rights). Such a decision is possible due to circumstances beyond the parents’ control (dangerous diseases, difficult family circumstances, etc.), and in cases where leaving a child with his parents is dangerous for him.

What does termination of parental rights entail?

• Parents deprived of parental rights or limited in rights lose rights based on the fact of relationship with the child, as well as the right to benefits and state benefits established for citizens with children.
• Deprivation of parental rights does not relieve parents from the responsibility to support the child.

What is alimony?

Alimony is funds for the maintenance of minors or disabled children, recovered from

Alimony can also be collected from adult children in favor of disabled parents who need help.

The following also have the right to receive alimony:

• disabled minor brothers and sisters who cannot receive alimony from their parents, from adult and able-bodied brothers and sisters who have the necessary means;
• disabled minor grandchildren from grandparents who have the necessary means;
• disabled grandparents from able-bodied adult grandchildren who have the necessary means for this;
• a disabled stepfather and stepmother from an able-bodied adult stepson and stepdaughter who have the necessary means for this.

Is it possible to restore parental rights?

If a parent has changed his behavior, lifestyle or attitude towards raising a child, he can be restored to parental rights.

Article 65 of the RF IC. Exercising parental rights (current version)

In this regard, paragraph 5 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of May 27, 1998 No. 10 “On the application by courts of legislation in resolving disputes related to the upbringing of children” defines the criteria that the court should be guided by when resolving such disputes: a) the interests of the child; b) mandatory consideration of the opinion of a child who has reached the age of ten years, provided that this does not contradict his interests (clause 3 of article 65, article 57 of the RF IC); c) the age of the child; d) the child’s attachment to each of the parents, brothers and sisters, and other family members; e) moral and other personal qualities of parents; f) the relationship existing between each parent and the child; g) the possibility of creating conditions for the child’s upbringing and development (taking into account the type of activity and work schedule of the parents, their financial and marital status, bearing in mind that the mere advantage in the financial and living situation of one of the parents is not an absolute basis for satisfying the requirements this parent); h) other circumstances characterizing the situation that has developed in the place of residence of one of the parents. The court may also take into account other circumstances, for example, which parent shows more care and attention to the child, the absence or presence of bad habits and behavioral deviations in the parents, etc.

Obviously, one should come to the conclusion that the place where the child is registered at the time of consideration of the dispute has no legal significance, since the child can be registered at the place of residence of either parent.

In paragraph 3 of the commented article, a reference is made to the norms of civil procedural legislation. We are talking, in particular, about clause 6.1 of Art. 152 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, according to which, when considering disputes about children at the request of parents (one of the parents) in a preliminary court hearing, the court, with the obligatory participation of the guardianship and trusteeship authority, has the right to determine the place of residence of children and (or) the procedure for the exercise of parental rights for the period before entering into legal the force of a court decision. On these issues, a determination is made if there is a positive conclusion from the guardianship and trusteeship authority and with the obligatory consideration of the children’s opinions. If there are circumstances indicating that a change in the actual place of residence of children for the period before the entry into force of the relevant court decision is contrary to the interests of the children, the court determines the place of residence of the children for the period before the entry into force of the court decision to determine their place of residence is the actual place of residence of the children.

Particular attention should be paid to the last paragraph of paragraph 3 of the commented article, which was added by Federal Law of May 4, 2011 N 98-FZ. The essence of the innovations is that even before considering the case on its merits, the court, with the obligatory participation of the guardianship and trusteeship authority, has the right to determine the place of residence of children for the period before the court decision on determining their place of residence enters into legal force.

The presence of such an innovation is due to the fact that recently there have been a number of cases where one of the parents (usually the child’s father) created obstacles for the other parent in communicating with the child before a court decision was made on which parent the child would be with. In some cases, the child was simply hidden, and in others, the guards simply did not allow the other parent into the house where the child was.

The provisions of clause 6.1 of Art. should be taken into account. 152 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, according to which, when considering disputes about children at the request of parents (one of the parents) in a preliminary court hearing, the court, with the obligatory participation of the guardianship and trusteeship authority, has the right to determine the place of residence of children and (or) the procedure for the exercise of parental rights for the period before entering into legal the force of a court decision. On these issues, a determination is made if there is a positive conclusion from the guardianship and trusteeship authority and with the obligatory consideration of the children’s opinions. If there are circumstances indicating that a change in the actual place of residence of children for the period before the entry into force of the relevant court decision is contrary to the interests of the children, the court determines the place of residence of the children for the period before the entry into force of the court decision to determine their place of residence is the actual place of residence of the children.

4. Since raising children cannot be considered a private matter of parents, paragraph 4 of the commented article talks about the right of parents (persons replacing them) to assist them in providing the family with medical, psychological, pedagogical, legal, and social assistance. So, according to paragraph 1 of Art. 22 of the Federal Law of December 28, 2013 N 442-FZ “On the basics of social services for citizens in the Russian Federation” (as amended on July 21, 2014), if necessary, citizens, including parents, guardians, trustees, and other legal representatives of minor children, are provided with assistance in the provision of medical, psychological, pedagogical, legal, social assistance not related to social services (social support). Such support is carried out by attracting organizations that provide such assistance. We are talking, in particular, about healthcare organizations, educational organizations, internal affairs bodies, guardianship and trusteeship authorities, etc.

Child Protection Lawyer

Determining the place of residence of a minor child when parents live separately

Determining the place of residence of a minor child when parents live separately is a rather complex process and is regulated by current family law.
When resolving this category of disputes, the court also takes into account many aspects, such as the opinion of a child who has reached the age of 10 years, his emotional attachment to each of the parents and other relatives (brothers, sisters, etc.), the material component also plays an important role, although it cannot play a decisive role in resolving the dispute, the opinion of the guardianship and trusteeship authority, or the lifestyle of each spouse.

It should also be understood that when the court considers this issue, the child’s parents equally have the right to insist that the child live with him. Recently, there are frequent cases when a child remains to live with his father. Therefore, an incorrectly chosen position and dispute tactics can lead to an inevitable mistake and deprive you of the right to live with your child.

Therefore, if controversial issues arise regarding the determination of the place of residence of a minor child, it is also necessary to promptly seek qualified legal assistance from a lawyer to determine the child’s place of residence in order to form a stable position on the case, collect and provide all the necessary evidence and go to court with a demand.

Deprivation of parents (one of them) of parental rights

Deprivation of parental rights, of course, is a very unpleasant procedure and is a last resort measure aimed at protecting the interests of the child.

There are often situations when the father, and increasingly, the mother, or worse, both parents abandon their own child to the mercy of fate, evade the fulfillment of the rights and responsibilities assigned to them by law.

There is an erroneous stereotype that only parents who are alcoholics, drug addicts or maliciously evading child support payers can be deprived of parental rights. At the same time, there are often cases when, after a divorce, one of the parents living separately from the child withdraws himself and stops all communication with his minor child.

What does the law say about this? Only the court has the right, but not the obligation, to deprive parental rights. The grounds for deprivation of parental rights are clearly regulated by Family Law and this list is limited. A complete list of grounds for deprivation of parental rights is contained in Art. 69 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation and each of them is subject to proof in court. The consequences of deprivation of parental rights are the loss of the right to raise a child, communicate with him, and the lack of permission or prohibition for the child to do anything, including permission to travel abroad. But the obligation to pay child support for a parent deprived of parental rights remains and does not depend in any way on the deprivation of parental rights.

In addition, one of the consequences of deprivation of parental rights is that six months from the date of deprivation of parental rights in court, the child can be adopted by the spouse of the other parent.

When initiating a dispute about deprivation of parental rights, it is necessary to understand that this category of cases is considered by the court according to the rules of claim proceedings, which means that all the circumstances referred to by the plaintiff are subject to careful verification by the court and are subject to proof by documents, explanations, witness statements, photographs or any other evidence provided for by law.

Cases of deprivation of parental rights are considered with the mandatory participation of the guardianship and trusteeship authority and the prosecutor, who also give their opinion on the case, taking into account the evidence presented by each of the parties.

Due to the complexity of this category of disputes, you must be prepared for a lengthy legal battle and only accompanied by a lawyer in the field of deprivation of parental rights. In our College you will find just such a specialist lawyer for children and a lawyer for deprivation of parental rights, who has practical experience in depriving parents of rights through the court.