Good afternoon!

My husband and I are divorcing, there was a court hearing and he agreed that the child lives with me, now he threatens me that he no longer wants the child to live with me and he was aggressive, and the court will make its decision at the beginning of July, what should I do? I note that I am unemployed, and he is employed, can he take my child? Thank you in advance.

In the event of a divorce, if the spouses have a minor child together, they are obliged to initiate the procedure of mandatory counselling at the competent social welfare centre. During the mentioned procedure, the parents conclude a plan on joint parental care in which they agree with which parent the child will live with, meetings and socializing with the other parent, and alimony amount. If the parents do not reach an agreement on the aforementioned issues, the court decides on the same at the proposal of the competent centre. The centre bases its proposal on tests performed, not on the basis of which parent is employed. At any time, either parent can appeal the court decision and ask for its change, and the procedure remains the same.

I have a 16,9-year-old daughter who is in a relationship with a 24-year-old boyfriend, she moved in with him a few days ago without our consent. I am interested in what we as parents have to do, whether we can be prosecuted for their life together, whether we have to report the fact that she left home to social welfare and whether he has committed a criminal offense since he is an adult and 7 years older than her?

A person under the age of 18 is considered a child and it is the parents who determine the child’s place of residence. Since this is a child – a 17-year-old girl, her opinion is taken into account depending on age and maturity. If there are behavioural problems on the child’s side, parents can contact the Centre (department for children with behavioural problems) and ask for advice on what to do with their child. A criminal report is filed against the parents if there is a suspicion of committing a criminal offense. If a 17-year-old girl is voluntarily in a relationship with a 24-year-old man, there are no elements of a criminal offense.

Good day!

I am 19 years old and I should be registered as the father of a child, the mother is 17 years old and does not want me to be registered as a father… What should I do?

Naturally, the child is mine, which has been proven by a DNA test.

A person who considers himself the father of a child can admit paternity before the registry office, social welfare centre or court. The consent of the child’s mother is required for the registration of paternity. 

If the mother does not consent to the registration of paternity, the father can prove his paternity in court. 

In order to be able to initiate court proceedings, it is necessary to give a statement of acknowledgment of paternity in the registry office, after which the registrar invites the mother to comment on the issue, if the mother refuses to give consent, the father receives the so-called rejection notice document and can then start court proceedings.

Hello,

the situation is as follows. I am the father of a minor child aged 6 years. Her mother and I are divorced, but custody is shared. The child’s mother was hospitalized in Vrapče a month ago due to a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. During her hospitalization, she entrusted the child to the care of the child’s grandmother, without anyone informing me of her hospitalization and that the child was with the grandmother. Did she act legally? Thank you for your reply.

Article 110 states: 

(1) Parents, regardless of whether they exercise parental care jointly or independently, have the right to independently make daily decisions regarding the child while the child is with one of them. 

(2) Parents are obliged to respect each other’s parental independence in making the decisions referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article and parental authority at the time when the child is with the other parent. 

(3) In urgent cases, when there is an imminent danger to the child, each parent has the right, without the consent of the other parent, to make decisions on taking necessary actions in accordance with the child’s welfare and to inform the other parent as soon as possible. 

(4) Everyday decisions referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article may also be made by another family member who lives with the child with the consent of the parents. 

(5) Decisions on taking necessary actions referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article may also be made by another family member living with the child or a responsible person in the educational institution the child attends in the event of imminent danger during child’s stay at school.

In layman terms, the mother acted legally, it would be responsible to tell the father where his child is. If the mother stayed in the hospital for more than 30 days, she was obliged to entrust the child to her grandparents with a notarized statement.

I will turn 15 soon; the boy I am in a relationship with is 19 years old. My parents know about this relationship and they did not say anything special except to watch what I was doing but they did not mind. His parents do not even know, and he is afraid to tell them because his father is a police officer, and he is afraid that he will react negatively and accuse him of being a paedophile or something similar… Now my boyfriend wants to break up because I am a minor and he is an adult… regardless of the fact that I am voluntarily with him! Now I wonder if he can really receive any punishment and if so, what punishment?

Article 158 of the Criminal Code (Official Gazette, No. 125/11, 144/12, 56/15, 61/15, 101/17) stipulates that whoever has sexual intercourse or a sexual act equated with it with a child under the age of fifteen, or induces a child under 15 to perform sexual intercourse or a sexual act equated with sexual intercourse with a third party or to perform sexual acts that are equated with sexual intercourse on itself, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term between one and ten years. Whoever commits a lewd act against a child under the age of fifteen or causes such child to commit a lewd act with another person, or commits a lewd act against itself, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term between six months and five years. There shall be no criminal offense referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article if the age difference between persons who have sexual intercourse or a sexual act equated with it or lewd act does not exceed three years. Since you are 14 years old and your boyfriend is 19 years old, therefore, he is almost 5 years older than you, he could be prosecuted for sexually abusing a child under the age of 15. Your consent to intercourse does not change the situation since you are not yet 15 years old, and in the Republic of Croatia the age limit for consent to sexual intercourse is 15 years.

Hello, I am 17 years old and I am pregnant. I will give birth to a baby a month before my 18th birthday. The child’s father is an adult. We decided to live out of wedlock for at least a year until we sorted everything out because the pregnancy was unplanned and we haven’t managed everything yet. Now I am interested in the moment when we go to register the birth of the child, will there be any problems with me being a minor, not being married and can I get custody of the child together with the father if I did not ask for a court certificate of maturity and ability to work. Thank you in advance!

According to the Family Act, paternity can be acknowledged on the record before the registrar, social welfare centre or court. These bodies will then submit a copy of the record to the registrar responsible for registering the child in the birth register. 

Therefore, it is enough for you and the child’s father to go together to the Social Welfare Centre competent for the place of residence. 

Family Law regulates in Article 114 the so-called suspension of parental care due to legal obstacles, in cases when the child’s parent is a minor or a person deprived of legal capacity in the part in which a person is unable to exercise parental care. 

This effectively prevents the minor parent from representing the child independently in relation to decisions relevant to the child EXCEPT for determining the child’s personal name. 

In practical terms, this means that you, as a minor parent, will only be able to give the child a name, and for all other tasks related to, for example, registration of residence, representation in court, deciding where the child will live, etc., the legal representative for your child will be in charge, and that representative will be appointed by the court or the social welfare centre. 

What is important to know is that Article 114 also regulates the case if you do not agree with the important decisions made for your child by the appointed legal representative; you as a parent have the right to appeal to the court which will then decide in a non-litigious procedure.

The suspension of the exercise of parental care due to legal obstacles ceases when the reasons for which the exercise of parental care was suspended cease to exist. 

Therefore, when you turn 18 or gain legal capacity by concluding a marriage, the suspension of parental care due to legal obstacles ceases to be imposed and you acquire full parental care.