Taking your child for a shorter trip - shared custody

Question

Hej, Im divorcing from a swedish woman and we have a child of 12 months. Im form Italy but I have a work and job in Sweden. She has forbid me to go to Italy to see my relatives for few days with the baby. I need to plan but she stop all my planning. What can I do?Can I report her or?Is there any law where Im entitle to bring for a short trip and few day our child to Italy?He has the right to see the other family.

Please advise. I feel prisoner of her. We have 50% custody each

Thanks

Regards,

Answer 1

Hi! Thank you for using Lawline.

Since you have shared custody, you are, according to 6 kap föräldrabalken, supposed to make your decisions together. But, when living apart, you are able to make decisions about the daily care of your child, without the other guardian’s approval, such as: meals, bed time and how to spend the child’s free time. According to UD (state department) a guardian isn’t allowed to bring their child abroad without the other guardian’s approval, but that statement is thought to be about longer lasting trips. For shorter trips (a couple of days) the legal position isn’t clear, but the jurisprudence seems to categorize it as “daily care”. Therefore a guardian should be able to bring their child for a shorter trip abroad, as long as the other guardian can’t present any reasonable grounds for it being against the child’s best interests.

To be remembered is that you are supposed to cooperate and every decision is supposed to be taken in mind of what’s best for your child, not what’s best for you. Doing something without the others approval, or not letting the other guardian do something, might hurt your cooperation in the future, and at the same time hurting your child. In the end it could lead to one guardian getting sole custody.

Therefore, even though you probably are allowed to take your child for a short trip to Italy, I would recommend you to try to solve the question with you ex-wife. There are third parties who can help you reach agreements, such as lawyers or your local social service.

Yours sincerely,