Both parents have parental responsibility. They are obliged to protect the child’s interests when exercising it.

If one of the parents is deceased or unknown, or has limited legal capacity, the other parent exercises parental responsibility. This also applies where one of the parents has been stripped of parental responsibility, if parental responsibility has been limited or suspended.

Parents are obliged to manage the child’s property with due diligence.

The parents of a minor child living separately may agree an arrangement for the exercise of their parental rights and obligations at any time. If the parents do not reach an agreement, the court may determine how their rights and obligations are to be exercised, even if no petition to this effect has been made, in particular the court has to decide which of the parents is to be granted custody of the minor child. If this is necessary in the child’s best interest and if the family situation so requires, the court may also decide on the child’s contact with close relatives.

 The child’s best interest is the primary consideration when deciding on all matters affecting the child. Determining and assessing the child’s best interest should take into account in particular:

• the quality of personal care;
• the child’s safety, including security and stability of the child’s home environment;
• protection of dignity, as well as mental, physical and emotional development of the child;
• circumstances related to the child’s health condition or disability;
• endangerment of the child’s development by interfering with the child’s dignity and endangerment of the child’s development by interfering with the mental, physical and emotional integrity of a close relative of the child;
• conditions for securing the child’s identity and developing the child’s abilities and aptitudes;
• the child’s opinion and potential exposure to a conflict of loyalty and subsequent guilt;
• conditions for forming and developing a relationship with both parents, siblings and other close relatives;
• using available means to preserve the child’s family environment if adjustment of parental responsibility is considered.

Explanatory laws:

Only in Slovak:

• Act No 36/2005 on family;
• Act No 97/1963 on international private and procedural law, as amended;
• Act No 154/1994 on registry offices, as amended.