Loss of parental authority: what it is, characteristics and causes

In the context of divorce, the loss of parental authority is widely referred to. This, which should not be confused with legal custody, refers to the obligations and rights that parents have with their children, having to satisfy their needs and making sure that these are fulfilled.

In practice, all fathers and mothers have parental authority, even if there is a separation. However, there are a number of situations in which this can be lost, usually due to some type of abuse or crime committed by the parents.

Next we are going to see a few brushstrokes on parental authority and how it can be lost.

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What is parental authority?

In legal terms, parental authority refers to the set of obligations, rights and duties of parents in relation to their child in terms of their person and property, as long as these are still children or adolescents who have not been emancipated, or adults declared judicially incompetent. While this may be natural when parents live together, are married and get along, the exercise of authority Parenting can become a sticky issue when the couple separates or disagrees on key points of their children's education. sons.

In practice, parents are responsible for caring for their child and attending to all her needs, while raising her child and ensuring the best intellectual, psychological, social and emotional development. Thus, parental authority It also refers to their education, material maintenance and protection of their health.. Included in this parental authority are aspects as basic as feeding him, taking him to school, to the doctor, dress him and everything that is necessary for him to be happy and constitute himself as a future functional individual of the society.

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Who holds parental authority?

Parental authority can be exercised by various people, depending on the case.

1. married parents

In most cases, those who exercise this authority are married parents together. In married couples with children, parental authority is exercised jointly and, in principle, no particular legal problem arises. This is the most typical situation and the least conflictive.

2. Divorced parents

Normally, when parental authority is discussed, it is in the context of divorce. Both parents wonder who is the one who will end up exercising such authority, perhaps confusing the idea of ​​legal custody of your child with that of this type of authority.

The truth is that parental authority remains joint even in the event of divorce, at least that is how it is conceived in most state civil codes.

It is, in principle, independent of the custody agreements established after the separation. In other words, both parents still have an obligation to ensure that their child gets what he needs, regardless of where she lives and with whom. However, judges can entrust parental authority to only one of the parents if they consider that the interests of the minor are at risk.

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3. Deceased mother or father

If one of the two parents dies, parental authority will fall exclusively on the surviving parent, with all the changes that this entails.

4. Death of both parents

In the event that both parents of the minor die, the child will be subject to the parental authority of a family council or legal guardian. There could be several options here, such as grandparents, uncles, older siblings, family friends with legal guardianship…

5. unmarried parents

It depends a lot on the country, but in many it is assumed that the burden of parental authority will depend on whether or not the child is recognized. If the child is recognized by only one of her parents, parental authority will be vested in that parent. Normally, this authority is automatically entrusted to the mother if her name appears on the child's birth certificate..

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What is parental authority for?

Parental authority serves to allow proceedings affecting the minor. On the one hand, we have the classic administrative procedures, such as signing a permit to go on a school trip, an appointment to the dentist, a registration to extracurriculars and others of the same style that, given its little importance in legal terms, only requires the validation of one of the fathers.

The procedures that would require the permission of both parents with parental authority would be bureaucratic aspects of greater importance, such as a name change, the request for a new nationality, registration to a new school...

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Causes: When is parental authority lost?

Normally, parental authority is held by the parents until their child comes of age or until the child is emancipated. Nevertheless, the loss can occur long before the child is of legal age depending on situations that are considered to put the interests of the child at risk. According to the civil codes of most countries, the loss of parental authority can occur according to the following scenarios.

1. Parent who denied paternity

In the event that the father or mother had denied paternity or maternity and had to recognize it by virtue of an administrative resolution or judicial ruling.

2. parental abandonment

In the event that the father, mother or legal guardian who exercised parental authority has abandoned his son or daughter without just cause (p. illness, disability, kidnapping…), endangering her life or causing her serious harm through negligence.

Situations in which one or both parents disassociate themselves from their relationships with their children are common, which causes a great number of difficulties for those who do care for the little ones.

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3. mistreatment

Parental authority is withdrawn from the father or mother who has exercised physical, mental or moral ill-treatment of their son or daughter and that harms their integrity and physical and mental health.

4. sexual exploitation

In case the father or mother promotes for their own benefit or that of others the sexual exploitation of their son or daughter through trafficking, trafficking or pornography, prostitution and child sex tourism.

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5. crimes

For a crime committed by one of the parents against the other or against her children and threaten his life and physical and mental integrity.

The loss of parental authority implies the definitive removal of the faculties, rights and some obligations that the parent has towards their child. This loss is a sanction that the legislation of each state imposes from which one or both parents are deprived of the legal capacity that they normally possess to exercise it with their children.