Children don't care about the marital status of their parents. They wish for father and mother to be together. If this is no longer possible, they usually want to maintain a lively relationship with both parents.
Shared parental responsibility (geV) is a further development of shared parental responsibility (geS). The concept of responsibility emphasizes that parents have a number of rights and duties towards their children which they cannot give up or be taken away from them – not even in the event of a separation or divorce.
While the geS is limited to the legal equality of father and mother, the geV also includes the concrete everyday equality of the parents in the everyday life of the child. In principle, fathers and mothers have the same rights and obligations towards their children – regardless of their marital status.
However, the equality of mother and father is not a rigid dogma, but the starting point for the development of individual solutions that regulate the questions relating to the care of the children during and especially after the parents live together.
When it comes to separations, strong emotions are often involved, which make it difficult or even impossible to have an objective discussion. Parents should therefore be supported by competent third parties in situations of separation. With them, the parents should work out viable solutions for childcare and maintenance after a separation and learn to cooperate again despite a separation in the interests of the children.
Our draft law is based on these principles: Complete equality of mother and father in law and in everyday life - this as a starting point for individual solutions that are adapted to the living conditions of those affected. For this purpose, those affected should receive the support of experts. It has been shown (e.g. in Germany) that the geS does not really solve the tensions surrounding the post-separation relationship, but that the problems often shift to the level of custody.
The principles of shared parental responsibility are simple and enable tailor-made solutions even in difficult situations. They have already proven themselves abroad (e.g. California, Germany). For example, the Cochem practice, which regulates divorce cases in interdisciplinary cooperation, has had a success rate of almost 100 percent in the more than ten years of its existence.
The geV is simple, practical and tailored to the needs of those affected. A successful model!