Parental authority (ouderlijk gezag)

Parental authority is the legal responsibility for the care and upbringing of a minor child, for administering the child’s property and for representing the child in legal matters. A child under eighteen is always under someone’s authority: that of one or both parents, or of a guardian.

Legal basis and who holds it

The rules are in Book 1, Title 14 of the Dutch Civil Code, from Article 1:245. Parents who are married or in a registered partnership at the child’s birth hold joint authority automatically. The mother holds it automatically in all cases.

For unmarried parents the position changed on 1 January 2023. Since that date, acknowledging a child (erkenning) also creates joint parental authority automatically. For children acknowledged before that date the old rule still applies: the father acquired authority only by a joint request entered in the authority register, and where that was never done, an application to the court is still needed.

What it means in practice

A parent with authority decides on schooling, medical treatment, place of residence and the issue of a passport, and where authority is joint those decisions must be taken together. Disagreement can be put to the court under Article 1:253a, which then decides in the child’s interest.

Authority normally continues after a divorce: the starting point of Dutch law is that both parents keep it. Sole authority is granted only where there is an unacceptable risk that the child would become caught between the parents, or where it is otherwise necessary in the child’s interest.

Where it goes wrong

The most common problem is the unmarried father who acknowledged the child before 2023 and assumed that this gave him authority. It did not, and the omission usually comes to light at the worst moment: at a border, at a hospital, or when the relationship ends. Checking the authority register takes minutes.