Regulation of child custody in Sweden

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Having custody of a child means having both the right and the duty to make decisions concerning the child’s personal affairs. Under Swedish law this means that

• parents are responsible for their children’s personal situation and for ensuring that their children are properly cared for, protected and brought up;
• parents must also ensure that their children receive the appropriate care for their age, development and other circumstances, and look after their best interests regarding financial  support and education;
• parents must also make sure that their children are kept under control and take any other steps necessary to prevent their children from causing harm to anyone else.

Put simply, this means that a parent who has custody must look after the child and make sure all his or her elementary needs are met; in other words that the child has a home, food, clothing, schooling etc.

This does not necessarily mean that parents must take care of their child themselves; they can allow others to do so providing this is not detrimental to the child.

Mediation
If two parents are involved in a legal battle concerning custody, residence or visiting rights, the district court can appoint a mediator who will meet the parties to try to help them come to an agreement.

JOINT CUSTODY
A child who lives with one parent has the right to have contact with the other parent. If the parents cannot agree on how much contact the child should have with the non-custodial parent, that parent can appeal to the district court for visiting rights.

All decisions concerning the non-custodial parent’s visiting rights must be made in the best interests of the child.

In order to decide what is in the best interests of the child, the court must first make a risk assessment. If the court finds that there is a risk that the child might be harmed in some way as a result of having contact with the non-custodial parent then that parent should clearly not have visiting rights and there should not be any contact at all, although in some cases there may be limited contact in the presence of a support person.

A parent will, however, be judged unsuitable to have visiting rights only in exceptional circumstances. It is often difficult to prove that conditions are unsuitable and that a child risks being mistreated by one parent.

If the court finds that contact with the non-custodial parent does not involve any risk to the child, the court will decide how much contact is best for the child. The visitation schedule is tailored to each child and can be anything from every second week to a few hours once a month.

In general, it is considered important for the child to have a good relationship with the non-custodial parent.

Consideration must also be given to how much the child wants to meet the other parent, and the older the child and the more clearly the child can express his or her wishes, the more the child’s wishes are take into account.

A non-custodial parent who does not wish to meet the child cannot be forced to do so.

MAINTENANCE ALLOWANCE
A parent who does not live with his or her child is obliged to pay a maintenance allowance for the child.

If the parents cannot agree on the amount of maintenance to be paid, the custodial parent should immediately apply to Försäkringskassan, the Social Security Office, for child maintenance. The handling time is often several months. Försäkringskassan pays out SEK 1,273 per month and child to the custodial parent.

Försäkringskassan claims the same amount back from the non-custodial parent (or a lower amount depending on the parent’s economic situation).

Maintenance is paid until the child turns 18 or leaves school, whichever is later, but ceases when the child turns 21.

In cases where the parent who has a duty to pay a maintenance allowance has a particularly good income the county court can decide on a higher maintenance sum. The county court can decide that the child is also entitled to a standard supplement to the maintenance. There is no ceiling for this standard supplement; an assessment is made as to what is a reasonable amount, based on the needs of the child and the economic situation of the parents.

One major problem of allowing the district court to decide the level of child maintenance is that the person who loses the court case must pay the litigation costs of the other party.

IN CASES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
A parent may be granted sole custody of a child if the court judges that it would be detrimental to the child if the other parent was the legal guardian or custodial parent, or had visiting rights. In order to make a judgment on this the court must first make a risk assessment. The risk assessment takes into account whether:

• the child or another family member has been subjected to abuse;
• there is a risk that the child will be abducted or detained;
• the child would be at risk with the other parent, for example as a result of alcohol abuse, drug abuse or mental ill-health;
• one parent does not provide the necessary care for the child; for example, the child does not receive enough food or arrives at school inappropriately dressed for the day’s activities.

In the first case (abuse) the court must investigate whether the child or another family member has been subjected to physical, mental or sexual abuse. If a parent subjects the other parent or a sibling or step-sibling to abuse the court must take this into account. Such acts must be serious to be taken into account. A parent having struck the other parent four years previously is unlikely to be considered serious enough. Proving that abuse has taken place can be very difficult.