Article 66 of the RF IC. Exercise of parental rights by a parent living separately from the child

Family legal relations occupy a very important place in the legal sphere of the Russian Federation, since every person encounters their implementation in the course of his life almost every day. One of the participants in such relationships are children and their parents, who bear full responsibility for them until they reach adulthood.

However, there are situations when the parents themselves are minors. In this case, their exercise of their parental rights and responsibilities towards the child may have certain characteristics.

Legislation

In accordance with the norms of Russian legislation, a citizen reaches the age of majority in the Russian Federation after he reaches the age of 18 years. It is after this that he acquires full civil capacity, as well as the rights and obligations associated with this.

Before this, he is considered a child and is therefore limited in many of his actions.

However, in some cases, achieving full legal capacity may occur earlier, for example, in the case of marriage or official employment. A special place deserves the birth of a child to minor parents, which is not at all uncommon lately.

In accordance with Art. 61 of the RF IC, both parents (father and mother) have equal rights to the child, but at the same time bear equal responsibility for him. Granting such rights to minor parents is connected, first of all, with concern not only for them, but also for the interests of their child.

A specific list of rights granted to parents who have not yet reached 18 years of age is also given in family law, namely in Art. 62 RF IC.

Moreover, it depends on the characteristics of a particular situation and the specific age of the father and mother.

The main problems of raising children by minor parents

Currently, more and more problems are being identified in raising children by minor parents, which are based on the young age of the parents:

According to statistics, the majority of families (80%) in which both or one parent is a minor are dysfunctional. Most often, such families either initially abandon the child, or the child is eventually seized by the guardianship authorities for improper care of the child.
Psychological problems of minor parents are not related to their age, but most often to their lifestyle. Early pregnancy is mainly a lack of family education. Most minor parents themselves were raised in dysfunctional families, and they do not have the right model of behavior and a model of a prosperous family. Accordingly, they will not be able to pass on the necessary knowledge to their children and form full-fledged personal qualities.
Financial problem is one of the most pressing problems of teenage parents. Despite the fact that the majority of Russian families also have financial problems, the situation of minor parents is aggravated by the fact that, due to their age, they have fewer opportunities to get a job with a decent income. Of course, this cannot but affect the upbringing of children, since parents are mainly busy solving financial and domestic problems, and there is not much time left for children.
Not following a healthy lifestyle. According to statistics, most teenage parents lead an unhealthy lifestyle - they smoke and drink alcohol. Thus, parents set a bad example for their children from a very early age. Children who see their parents drinking and smoking often perceive this behavior as truly true and subsequently copy it.
Lack of education. Many minor parents have only secondary (incomplete) or secondary (complete) general education. Often they do not have the desire or opportunity to study further. Many parents did poorly at school, skipped classes, etc. Accordingly, their level of knowledge in the field of fundamental sciences is extremely low. All this affects the overall development of their children, since they cannot form a basis of knowledge in children, instill in children moral and aesthetic standards of behavior in society, skills of effective communication and interaction with others.

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List of rights

The set of rights granted to minor citizens in the event of the birth of a child, as well as the procedure for exercising these rights, depend on two main factors:

the age of the father or mother (he must be over 16 years old);
the existence of an official marriage between them.

If none of these factors are present (that is, the parents are under 16 years of age and are not married), then they will be considered incompetent, and therefore a number of their rights to the newborn will be limited.

If at least one of these conditions is met, the rights of minor parents will be complete and will include the opportunity to:

live with your child;
take personal part in his upbringing;
represent and protect his interests in various structures;
establish or challenge paternity (maternity) in the manner established by law;
resolve issues related to the child’s education, as well as his moral, spiritual, physical or mental development, etc.

This list of rights and the obligations arising from them is essentially the same as for adult citizens, since such parents have full rights to the child.

Some features can only arise if the father and mother are not legally married or are under 16 years of age.

In this case, some restrictions may be imposed.

Violation of the rights of young parents

The most common violations of rights include the following:

older relatives (mother, father of young parents, grandparents) interfere with the upbringing of children, wanting to take the babies into their full care;
older relatives forcibly remove parents from their children;
guardianship officials violate the rights to participate in the upbringing of children.

Typically, violations of rights occur due to the fact that the minor mother and father do not know about their rights, do not have personal housing, and are not able to provide for each other and the baby on their own. Most often, they remain to live in the apartment of their parents, who take the babies for themselves and forcefully impose their own methods of raising babies.

In such a situation, you will need to contact a social service employee who is assigned to the young family. Once full legal capacity has been achieved, you can contact the prosecutor's office and the court.

You will need to do the following:

collect evidence of the fact that their legal rights are regularly violated (for example, screenshots of correspondence, audio, video, testimony);
file a complaint with the guardianship authorities;
draw up an act stating that the rights of young parents are being violated;
write a statement and submit it to the court.

Representatives of the guardianship authorities will visit the housing where young parents and children are located, after which they will study the living conditions and talk with neighbors and family members. Then they will draw up an act - this document will be the basis for the parents to go to court in order to protect their own rights if their violation continues.

When young parents need to restore their right to live together with their children, there is no need to go to court - assistance from guardianship officials is sufficient. And if representatives of this service violate the rights of parents, then you will need to contact the prosecutor’s office, whose representatives will check the violation of rights. If this fact is confirmed, the young family will be assigned to other guardianship officials.

Procedure for exercising parental rights

Exercise of rights in relation to the child by parents under 18 years of age,

practically no different from general cases. In particular, this occurs according to the principle of priority of the rights and interests of the child, whose care should be the main responsibility of the father and mother.

If a child lives separately from one of the parents, but his paternity (or maternity) has been officially established, he also has the right to take part in his upbringing. In particular, he can communicate with him, but only on condition that this does not pose any danger to the baby and does not cause him harm .

He can also make decisions about his education, receive information about him from social or educational authorities, etc. As for the obligation to provide financial support to such a father or mother, in this case the situation is ambiguous.

This is due to the fact that in most cases he himself remains a child and is supported by his parents.

An unmarried minor mother, as in general cases, has the right to receive financial assistance from the state (allowance for a single mother). All other types of assistance (benefits, benefits) that are due in general cases can also be received by minor parents.

Features of raising children by minor parents, married and unmarried

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Minor parents rarely register their marriage.

If minors (or one of the spouses) registered a marriage before the birth of a child, then they have the rights and fulfill the duties provided for by the Family Code of the Russian Federation and the Civil Code of the Russian Federation in full. This makes them independent and independent in solving various life situations, for example, in matters of establishing paternity, collecting alimony, etc.

In the event that minors have not entered into marriage, for various reasons, according to the law, they cannot act independently. The main danger in this case is that the minor mother and her parental rights remain unprotected by law, which primarily negatively affects the child, whose interests are infringed.

Having a child at an early age is dangerous not only for a girl’s health, but also often has a negative impact on the process of raising a child. This is due to the fact that the young mother is still a child herself and is not sufficiently developed socially and mentally. The girl does not yet understand all the responsibility that falls on her with the birth of a child. The complexity of the situation is aggravated by legal insecurity due to the imperfection of Russian legislation. Quite often, these factors are decisive in deciding the future fate of the child.

Note 2

The majority of minor mothers do not take responsibility for raising a child and exercise the right to transfer the child without state support to a special institution. Many young mothers take this step out of despair and hopelessness, which is explained by their lack of the necessary conditions for maintaining and raising a child.

Rights of incapacitated parents

According to general rules, the legal capacity of a citizen, in accordance with paragraph 1 of Art.
21 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, occurs after 18 years. According to Art. 27 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, this can happen earlier, in the event of legal marriage or employment in an official job. However, to do this, the minor must also be over 16 years of age. In all other cases, the citizen does not have full civil capacity, and therefore cannot exercise a number of rights provided for fully capable people.

The same applies to his parental rights - in this case they will be somewhat limited.

In particular, such a father or mother may:

live with the baby;
recognize or challenge maternity (paternity);
demand establishment of paternity or maternity in court (but only if they are over 14 years old).

However, such a parent does not have the right to personally raise the child, since, according to

By and large, he himself is still a child. Therefore, a guardian must be appointed for the child born to him - until the father or mother reaches the age of 16 years. After this, he will be able to exercise his rights in relation to the child himself.

A guardian is usually appointed from among the minor's close relatives, but only on the condition that they themselves give their consent. Most often, these are the grandparents of the newborn, that is, the parents of the minor father or mother. However, in case of their refusal or absence, other persons may be appointed as guardians, who are determined taking into account the opinion of the guardianship and trusteeship authorities.

The guardian must necessarily live with the child and personally exercise in relation to him all the rights and obligations established by law.

In particular, take care of its contents, look after it, provide treatment, realize its rights and interests, etc.

All further disputes between the guardian and the minor father or matter are resolved by the guardianship and trusteeship authority. In some cases, the guardian may be punished within the framework of current legislation or even released from performing his duties.

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Civil marriage has both its pros and cons. We examined this issue in detail here.

1. Minor parents have the right to live together with the child and participate in his upbringing. 2. Unmarried minor parents, in the event of the birth of a child and when their maternity and (or) paternity are established, have the right to independently exercise parental rights upon reaching the age of sixteen years. Until the minor parents reach the age of sixteen, the child may be appointed a guardian who will raise him or her together with the child’s minor parents. Disagreements arising between the child's guardian and minor parents are resolved by the guardianship and trusteeship authority. 3. Minor parents have the right to recognize and challenge their paternity and maternity on a general basis, and also have the right to demand that paternity of their children be established in court upon reaching the age of fourteen.

Commentary on Article 62. 1. The UK for the first time establishes the rights of minor parents. The very fact of the birth of a child gives rise to the recognition of his mother as the holder of parental rights, regardless of her age. But the uniqueness of the position of a minor mother, as well as a minor person recognized by the father, leaves its mark on the content of these rights and the procedure for their implementation. Paragraph 1 of Article 62 of the Family Code highlights the right of a minor parent, firstly, to live together with his child and, secondly, to participate in his upbringing. The first is implemented in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 54 of the Insurance Code (see commentary to this article). At the same time, paragraph 1 of Article 9 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child takes on special meaning, which states the inadmissibility of his separation from his parents against their wishes, unless this is caused by the need to protect his rights and interests. Paragraph 1 of Article 62 of the Insurance Code uses the general concept of “minor parents”, without highlighting any age category. Therefore, any minor parent has the right to live together with the child. The existence of the right to participate in upbringing means that such a parent is not raising the child alone (see commentary to paragraph 2 of Article 62 of the Family Code). Although clause 1 of Article 62 of the Family Code focuses on the listed rights of minor parents, undoubtedly, they, being minors themselves, also have all the rights granted by law to minor children (see Articles 54-60 of the Family Code). At the same time, being parents, minor children have parental rights provided for in Articles 63 and 64 of the Family Code. But they exercise these rights not only in accordance with Article 65 of the UK, but also with paragraph 2 of Article 62 of this Code. Minor parents are also subject to rules regarding the protection of parental rights, deprivation of parental rights, restoration of parental rights, restriction of parental rights and removal of a child from parents in the event of an immediate threat to the child’s life or health (see commentary to Articles 68-77 of the Family Code). 2. Minor parents of any age, if they are married, exercise parental rights themselves. The situation is different when there is no marriage. For such cases, paragraph 2 of Article 62 of the IC determines the age criteria for their independence in the exercise of parental rights, which differ from those established by the Civil Code. According to family law, minor parents who have reached the age of 16 have the right to independently exercise their parental rights. If the unmarried minor parent is under 16 years of age, he or she exercises his or her parental rights together with the child's guardian. This guardian is appointed in accordance with Article 31 of the Civil Code, which defines the purposes of guardianship. It is assumed that the minor parent himself is unable to protect the rights and interests of his child without the help of adults. In the process of family education, the assistance of the child’s guardian is an integral part of family life and is not of an official nature. When it is necessary to solve problems that go beyond the ordinary (placement of a ward in one of the children's educational, medical institutions, protection of his property rights, etc.), Articles 26, 28 of the Civil Code apply. When solving the problem of adopting a child of minor parents who are under 16 years old, the requirements of paragraph 1 of Article 129 of the Family Code are taken into account (see commentary on this article). A minor parent aged 14 to 16 years is assisted in exercising parental rights by his parent. The child's guardian does everything for a minor parent who is under 14 years of age. But if disagreements arise between a minor parent of any age and the guardian of his child, then they are resolved by the guardianship and trusteeship authorities. In doing so, they are guided by the interests of the child of the minor parent. In such cases, the guardianship and trusteeship authorities give recommendations that are desirable for implementation. Most often, the role of guardian over the child of a minor parent is assumed by one of the family members. But even here it is necessary to be guided by the requirements of paragraph 3 of Article 33 of the Civil Code regarding the desire to be a guardian, the presence of qualities that ensure the interests of the ward, etc. If it is impossible to satisfy the request of the applicant for the role of guardian, his obvious inability to properly protect the interests of the ward, and also in the absence of persons willing to be a guardian, the protection of the rights and interests of the minor parent and his child is entrusted to the guardianship and trusteeship authorities in accordance with paragraph 2 of Art. .123 SK. In such cases, these bodies protect the rights of both the minor parent and his child. But when a minor parent reaches 16 years of age, he gains complete independence in the exercise of his parental rights. And guardianship over his child is terminated automatically, except in cases where the minor parent for some reason does not care about his child at all. Then guardianship remains, but its grounds change. 3. A male minor has the right to recognize his paternity by submitting a joint application with the child’s mother to the registry office (see paragraph 4 of article 48 of the IC and the commentary thereto). Recognition of motherhood by a mother usually comes down to her request to register the child she has born in accordance with the requirements of Article 48 of the Family Code. Within the meaning of paragraph 3 of Article 62 of the Insurance Code, there are no age restrictions in this regard. The consent of the minor’s parents or persons replacing them is not required. However, an entry in the birth register made as a result of voluntary establishment of paternity (maternity) can be challenged in the manner provided for in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 52 of the Family Code (see commentary thereto). This provides an opportunity to correct in the future the mistake that occurred, caused by the immaturity of the decision of the minor parent. A minor mother also has the right to file a claim in court to establish paternity. A male minor has the right to bring such a claim in cases provided for in paragraph 4 of Article 48 of the Insurance Code (see commentary to it). However, only minors who have reached the age of fourteen can be plaintiffs. If a minor parent is under fourteen years of age, the plaintiffs in cases of establishing paternity are his parents in accordance with Article 64 of the Family Code (see commentary to it). A male minor may act as a defendant in a paternity case if he is fourteen years old. It must be assumed that a claim to establish paternity cannot be brought against those who have not reached this age. The participation of a minor in the judicial process to establish paternity is determined in accordance with the rules of civil procedural legislation.

Requirements for fulfilling the duties of minor parents and their implementation

The procedure for the exercise of parental rights by minor parents is determined by participation in the upbringing and development of their children together with the guardianship and trusteeship authorities.

Representatives of guardianship and trusteeship authorities may petition the court to prohibit the father and mother from raising children as minors.

According to judicial practice, the following facts serve as the basis for such a petition:

drug or alcohol addiction of the mother or father, as well as their immoral lifestyle;
the presence of a confirmed mental illness that poses a danger to the health and life of children;
child abuse;
conscious refusal to take children from a maternity hospital or preschool institution.

If a minor mother and father decide to abandon their child due to the inability to create normal living, upbringing and development conditions for him, they must formalize his transfer to another family. In this case, the father and mother must provide written consent to this step.

Features of the implementation of the rights of early parents

Young mothers and fathers cannot ensure the protection of their baby’s rights properly. For example, the law prohibits them from going to court until a certain age (14 years).

Therefore, one of the forms of assistance to minor parents is the need to transfer the child into guardianship.

Important! Until mom and dad reach 14 years of age, they are considered legally incompetent and can only take part in raising their son/daughter.

Features of the performance of duties by a mother and father who have not reached the age of sixteen:

the act of appointing a legal representative is terminated when the parent/one of them reaches 16 years of age;
blood mother and father can meet the baby, live with him, and raise him as much as possible;
disagreements between the legal representative and the parents are resolved with the participation of the district guardianship department;
minor citizens may demand to establish/challenge paternity/maternity in the general manner.

Important! Article 62 of the RF IC provides for the possibility of establishing paternity in court from the age of 14.

Early motherhood and the law

Despite the fact that the law distinguishes minor parents into a separate category, their rights and responsibilities differ little from the general ones. Early motherhood has some features:

A mother under 18 years of age cannot be a recipient of monthly benefits.
The mother and father can jointly submit documents to establish paternity through the Civil Registry Office.
If the biological parent does not want to voluntarily recognize his child, the minor mother can prove his parentage through the court.

Basic payments at birth (for early registration for pregnancy, maternity, lump sum payment) are assigned to a young woman, regardless of age. However, benefits for children under 1.5 years of age are paid only to adult citizens. This could be the baby’s father, his guardian, or, in extreme cases, any relative of the young mother who lives with her and has reached the age of eighteen. We list the sequence of actions if the parents are unanimous in their decision to include the baby’s father in the birth documents:

contact the registry office department that registered the birth of the baby;
submit the child’s certificate and mother’s passport;
file an application to establish paternity;
pay the duty.

As a result, changes will be made to the child’s birth document. Instead of dashes, the data of a specific citizen will be entered in the “father” column. From this moment on, the man receives parental rights and responsibilities.

Important! This right appears when the mother reaches 14 years of age. In accordance with Art. 62 of the RF IC with comments, up to the specified age this can be done by her parents or guardians of the mother or child.

Let's sum it up

Thus, even if they are minors, young parents have inalienable rights and responsibilities regarding raising their children and caring for them. If the rights of mom and dad are violated, they must contact a guardianship official, the prosecutor's office or the court - depending on the circumstances.

After parents have reached the age of 16 and are living in an officially registered marriage, they independently begin to exercise their parental rights and fulfill the corresponding responsibilities. Up to 16 years of age, rights are exercised under the supervision of guardianship officials. If these employees violate the rights of young mothers and fathers, then it is necessary to go to court.