In Spain, the first Shared Custody Law has just been approved, which will prevail in divorce cases, thus trying to ensure that the minor children of separated parents will maintain the right to interact with the remaining relatives.
It has been the plenary session of the Courts of Aragon that has approved today the proposal of the law of equality in family relations before the breakdown of parents' coexistence. So far, the Civil Code considers this option as an exceptional measure.
Through this law it is intended to reverse the current trend, according to which in almost all cases the custody of minor children is granted individually to women. Something that is probably the most appropriate in many cases, especially if the children are young and have had more contact with the mother and have been in their care mainly.
Now the judges will be able to grant shared custody preferably before only one of its members and the family home will be inhabited by anyone who has more difficulties to relocate.
This is a legislative initiative of the Aragonese Party Group (PAR) that aims to adapt the regulations on the subject to today's society, which the promoters of the law consider outdated.
This law of Shared Custody is the first in Spain in this area, and I think it can set a trend and there will be more cases coming soon in other Communities.
What worries me about laws like this is that does not take individual cases into account, and that can be counterproductive in some cases. We speak, of course, of counterproductive for children, who are not asked what option they would like and may be involved in conflicting situations among their parents.
The ideal would be to reach an agreed agreement between the parents and the son or the children, and always taking into account the wishes and good of the little ones in the first place, although as we know it is not always easy.
In any case, in Aragon, separated parents will have shared custody of their children as the first option for their care and coexistence, although I imagine that the judges are the ones who in many cases have the last word for conflictive cases.
