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New political deal changes conditions for children of divorcees

Ritzau/The Local
Ritzau/The Local - [email protected]
New political deal changes conditions for children of divorcees
File photo: Flemming Krogh/Ritzau Scanpix

Denmark’s government announced on Tuesday new rules relating to legal processes for divorcing parents.

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The agreement will make life easier for children whose parents decide to go their separate ways, children’s charities said after the announcement was made.

“Overall, we’re delighted. The agreement solves, on the basis of research-based knowledge, several of the current problems with the divorce system,” director Rasmus Kjeldahl of charity Børns Vilkår said.

“It is crucial that the system now comes into effect. If it does, it will become easier to be a child in a family with divorced parents,” Kjeldahl added.

The political agreement contains a number of elements, primarily relating to how state financial support for children (Danish: børne- og ungeydelser) is distributed between divorced parents.

The new provisions enable, for example, divorced parents to share the home in which children live and share child support payments equally, Ritzau writes.

The new provisions, which have received the backing of all parties in parliament, also include a new authority to provide advice and counselling to families, new guidelines for legal processes and a department with a mandate to ensure children are cared for throughout divorces, the Ministry for Children and Social Affairs wrote on its website.

“It is a natural modernisation to share a budget. But that requires parents to have good agreements in place in regard to who pays for what. Otherwise, many conflicts can arise,” Kjeldahl said.

The children’s charity director also said that judges should be sufficiently trained to speak to children in divorce cases.

Save The Children Denmark’s general secretary Jonas Keiding Lindholm was positive about the political agreement.

“It is positive that, going forward, there will be focus on quickly identifying divorces that can be particularly testing for the children concerned, and that, overall, the well-being and protection will be given overall priority,” Lindholm said in a press statement.

READ ALSO: Denmark sees record number of divorces

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