Protecting your child's stability after the separation.

What this covers

Parental authority, residence and the maintenance contribution: three main questions.

Parental authority concerns the important decisions in a child's life, such as schooling, health, administrative formalities, extracurricular activities or philosophical or religious upbringing. In principle it is exercised jointly by both parents, even after the separation.

Residence organises the time the child spends with each parent. It can be equal shared residence, primary residence with one of the parents, or adapted to a different rhythm, depending on the child's interests and the family's reality.

The maintenance contribution, for its part, is about sharing the costs of the child's upkeep and education, taking account of the child's needs and of each parent's resources after deduction of unavoidable expenses.

Alongside these ordinary costs, extraordinary expenses are settled separately. They are listed in the Royal Decree of 22 April 2019, which determines the extraordinary expenses arising from Article 203, § 1 of the Civil Code and sets out how they are accounted for, evidenced and paid between the parents.

I help you organise these questions clearly, seek agreement where possible, and apply to have an existing decision adapted when the situation changes, for example after a move, a change of job or a new family arrangement.