Exercising Parental Authority – A Right or a Legal Obligation?

Abstract

The child needs a balanced family climate in which he can feel safe and effective communication with his parents. This is possible if the latter are attentive to the child's needs, care about his education, they show understanding, are affectionate and calm, and participate in important events in his life. In civil law, this prerogative is called parental authority and is perceived by most parents as a right. In reality, however, the exercise of parental authority is a legal obligation of the parent and a correlative right of the minor. In this article, we will develop this aspect regarding the essence and qualification of parental authority, the impossibility of renouncing it through a notarial declaration, and the mandatory involvement of the guardianship court that establishes the limits and concrete way of exercising it, when parents wish to deviate from the rule according to which parental authority is exercised jointly by both parents.