Rights and duties of a stepparent in 2021
More and more minors in the Netherlands are part of a blended family. In addition to their parents, these children also have to deal with stepparents. In certain cases a stepparent is legally obligated to contribute to the costs of the care and upbringing of the children of his/her new partner. In this blog I explain which rights and obligations a stepparent has and discuss recent case law in which there was a possible obligation of the stepparent to pay maintenance.
Who is the legal stepparent?
You are a legal stepparent if you are married or have entered into a registered partnership with the father or mother of a minor child who is registered with him/her.
Rights of a stepparent
Acknowledgment and authority
If your partner is the only legal parent of his/her child, it is possible for you as a stepparent to acknowledge the child. The law also provides for the possibility, if custody is in the hands of one parent, to give custody to the stepparent together with the parent named above (article 1:253 t Dutch Civil Code). A judge can only order this if the parent making the request has had sole custody for at least three years and the stepparent has had joint custody of the child for at least one consecutive year.
Contact
The stepparent has the possibility to request a care arrangement with the child through article 1:377f of the Dutch Civil Code. There must be a close personal relationship and the visit must be in the child’s best interest. In practice, this possibility is hardly ever used.
Information
Despite the fact that the right to information for the stepparent is not included in the law, the District Court of Midden-Nederland, by order of 18 May 2021 (ECLI:NL:RBMNE:2021:3467), referring to Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, ruled that the stepmother in this case, with respect to four of the five minors, has the right to be informed about and to share information with respect to the care and upbringing, school progress, medical matters and all that relates to the children by, among others, the school, social services and other agencies or third parties to whom the care of the children is entrusted. In addition, the court ruled that the stepmother has the right to attend meetings regarding the care and upbringing, school progress and medical issues. Therefore, under certain circumstances, as a stepparent, you may enforce the sharing of information with you.
Obligations of the stepparent
Maintenance obligation for a stepparent
In addition to the maintenance obligation parents have for their child, Dutch law (Article 1:395 and Article 1:395a of the Civil Code) also provides for a maintenance obligation for the stepparent. The following criteria must be met:
1. the parent and the stepparent have entered into a marriage or registered partnership with each other;
2. the minor stepchildren must belong to the family of the stepparent.
According to the legislative history, the question of whether a child belongs to the family of the stepparent should be interpreted broadly. For example, stepchildren who live in a student house belong to the family of the stepparent.
Legislation
In the initiative bill to amend child support (Child Support Revision Act, 34154) it has already been proposed to abolish the maintenance obligation of stepparents. The initiators expect that there will be fewer change moments which could lead to conflict situations or going to court, since the income of the new partner of (one of) both parents does not have to be taken into account. It is still unclear when this bill will be debated by the Tweede Kamer. It is therefore not expected that the legislation regarding stepparents will change in the short term.
Case law regularly shows that a parent whose partner is liable to pay child support regularly requests that, in anticipation of the proposed legislation, the parents first provide for the children’s needs before relying on the stepparent’s financial capacity. Generally speaking, there is no reason to disregard the stepparent’s obligation of maintenance because of a possible future change in the law (see, for example, court of appeal Arnhem-Leeuwarden 21 September 2021 ECLI:NL:GHARL:2021:8835 and court of appeal Arnhem-Leeuwarden 9 February 2021 ECLI:NL:GHARL:2021:1218).
In a ruling by the District Court of Gelderland on February 3, 2021 (ECLI:NL:RBGEL:2021:510), the court did take into account that the legislature is preparing to regulate that stepparents are no longer liable for maintenance for stepchildren. In this case, the parents had consciously deviated from the legal standards and, according to the court, there were no weighty changed circumstances as a result of which the father could no longer be held to the agreement.
The ruling of the District Court of Gelderland seems to be an exception and for the time being the financial capability of the stepparent for the children belonging to the family must be taken into account when calculating child support.
Would you like to know more about the maintenance obligation of (step) parents or do you have any questions? Please feel free to contact one of our lawyers.