Lawyer Aleksandar Pavleski gave an interview to the Ona.rs portal about frequently asked questions related to family law in Serbia, more precisely the exercise of parental rights.

When asked about what sole custody is and what is shared custody, he pointed out the following:

“Shared custody is the assumed form. According to the Family law, parents are not limited in their parental rights, and they exercise it jointly. These are situations where a couple is married or cohabiting and has a child to take care of. In such situations, parents agree on all aspects of parental rights (custody, upbringing, education, etc.) – that is, parents jointly and consensually exercise parental rights.

The regime of shared custody may remain in force even after the termination of the parents’ marital or cohabitation. The basic condition is that it is possible in practice. This will be possible when both parents agree to jointly exercise parental rights, when they have adequate parental capacities, when they have overcome mutual partner conflicts and when they are able to communicate, exchange important information regarding the child, as well as reach all necessary agreements regarding of a child. This way of exercising parental rights implies that there will not be a formally established visitation model and a determined amount of alimony because, as mentioned, the parents’ agreement applies to all aspects of parental rights.

Therefore, considering that in such situations the parents live apart, it is necessary to agree on how long and when the child will spend with one or the other parent, but also how much and in what way both parents will participate in supporting the child.

This way of exercising parental rights implies that there will be no formally established visitation model and no formally established alimony. Disputes arise in situations where cooperation and communication between parents does not exist or is difficult to sustain. Then the court decides which of the parents will independently exercise parental rights.”

When asked about choice of the child:

“A child can choose which parent to live with at the age of 15, and the court will usually accept that choice. However, this wish is not unconditional. The court is not obliged to accept the child’s opinion if it judges that the child’s wish does not coincide with his best interest. In practice, a child may choose to live with a parent who is, for example, has committed a domestic violence against him or has psychological problems that compromise parental capacity, which is why it is not in the best interest of the child to live with such a parent, regardless of the child’s wishes.”

When asked about which side wins more often, he said:

“We do not have official statistical data, but from the practice of our law office, we conclude that certainly mothers exercise parental rights independently more often. It should be borne in mind that in many cases fathers do not want to exercise parental rights independently because they believe that it is better for the child to have that role played by the mother, which is why in such cases there is no “fight” over the custody, but the focus remains on the visitation model and alimony. Certainly, if we were to exclude cases of joint exercise of parental rights and cases in which fathers leave this role to mothers, there is a numerical advantage on the side of mothers.”

You can read the entire interview at the following LINK.