Child custody

[treparcs]

Hi everyone,
I'm from a EU country and my partner is Finn, we have a baby but we are gonna split. At the moment we are living in Finland where she works meanwhile I take care of the baby. For me it is almost impossible to get a job here, so once we split then I would have to move to some other country in order to pay the bills. Therefore the custody should have to go to either her or me. We are not married so I assume that the kid goes straight to her unless the court says the opposite or not.
So is there any tip to get the custody? I have started checking for lawyers but I don't know if there should be any steps before or what's the way to go in this case.

[ajdias]

First question: are you married? Is the child officially recognized as yours and do you both share custody (this should be automatic if you're married)?

Go to the social services of your city and ask for advise. What city do you live in?
The most common solution is joint custody, you might have a different agreement because you are leaving the country but that is the norm here.

[treparcs]

The kid is officially recognized and we both share custody at the moment but I'm not married.
Since I have to leave the country due to I will get no job here, then I need the whole custody to live with him. If my ex partner and I live in different countries then I think that it is a bit hard to share the custody. I don't know if there is someone in the forum that had the same problem in the past.
We live in Helsinki but I guess law is the same in the whole Finland.
Thanks for he social services tip, I'll check in internet where are they.

[ajdias]

http://www.hel.fi/wps/portal/Sosiaalivi ... iset+asiat_

Your chances of getting custody of the child, away from the mother and from the country are virtually nill, unless the mother is an hazard to the child. I know of someone who lives in the Netherlands and visits his children in Finland every two months or so, but don't know if that works on a friendly or legal basis, as he even stays at his ex.s when in Finland.

Find an arrangement that works for you, the mother and the child but before know your rights and duties. Talk to the authorities and evaluate your options. Ask them, ask here, the more informed you are the better for you and your kid.

[rinso]

This is what most likely will happen if none of the parents have any "issues" that make them unfit as a parent.

- there will be joined custody
- the children will live with the mother unless the parents agree on an other deal
- their will be visiting rights (normally every other weekend and every other holiday) off course you can make your own arrangements.
- the children are not allowed to leave the country without permission of the father.
- the income providing parent (father?) has to pay alimony for the children (basis about €140,-/month/child)

If you have to leave the country for financial reasons you have to make a deal that's agreed upon by both. It might be complicated tho.

[ajdias]

the children are not allowed to leave the country without permission of the father.

I've been told that any parent holding joint custody can take the kid abroad, for the duration of the time that the kid is supposed to be with the parent unless:
- the other parent opposes (and them there might be needed a decision from the police to grant/concede a passport);
- the parents agree otherwise.

Anyway, as a foreigner you are advised to get a declaration from the other parent that you can take the child abroad, just like others have suggested in this forum. Otherwise you might run into difficulties as a foreign taking a Finnish citizen abroad (even if you have the legal right to do so).

"pay alimony"

This is means tested, and will depend on both parents ability to provide for the child and for how long the child stays at either parent. Like Rinso says it baisis is 140 but can be higher (or lower).

Edit: A link with further reading on child maintenance: http://translate.google.com/translate?h ... 26hs%3DERd

[tunkkari]

the children are not allowed to leave the country without permission of the father.

I've been told that any parent holding joint custody can take the kid abroad, for the duration of the time that the kid is supposed to be with the parent unless:
- the other parent opposes (and them there might be needed a decision from the police to grant/concede a passport);
- the parents agree otherwise.

from how I understand it, and thats not too well lol, its covered by some law that most countries are now part of, and you can take the child out of the country for up to 28 days for a holiday with the other parents knowledge, you can not however take the child to live abroad without the permission of the other parent, or it is classed as kidnapping. I had to get permission from my ex before moving here for my son to come with me even tho he had never had contact with him for years, and when applying for residency had to show the proof of his agreement.