Final court decision granting joint custody to the father, who resides abroad, and setting out his right of access to the child for 10 days each month and half of the school holidays.

In a recent ruling, the Court of First Instance of Athens provided a definitive resolution to a complex and international dispute between two parents regarding the issue of custody of their child: the Court, ruling on opposing claims for custody of the child, considered that there was no reason to deviate from the rule of joint custody and awarded it jointly to the mother and the father – a client of our firm – thereby departing from a previous interim order which had awarded custody to the mother exclusively. The Court took into account the active steps taken by the father to remain present in his child’s life, even though he is not a permanent resident of Greece and the child’s stay in our country was contrary to his initial wishes; examples of this included finding permanent accommodation in order to maintain contact with the child, and ruled that it was in the child’s best interests to have contact with him for a period of 10 days each month and for half of the school holidays, during which he may travel with the child abroad, despite the mother’s objections.

This decision confirms, in principle, the existing case law according to which geographical distance is not necessarily a ground for awarding sole custody of the child to one parent, and demonstrates that, in a family dispute, the parent is rewarded who is able to put aside their personal conflict with their former partner and prioritise the best interests of their child, charting a new course for the family’s life together.