Child custody in Latvia
In Latvia parents living together exercise custody jointly, and joint responsibility continues after separation.
Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
If the parents are married
Parents living together exercise parental custody jointly. Both can act for the child in personal and property matters and must decide jointly on matters that affect the child's development.
If the parents are not married
The official fact sheet does not say who holds custody for an unmarried mother's child or how a father acquires it. Check with a lawyer in Latvia.
The unmarried father, in one line: The official source does not say; check before relying on it.
After a divorce or separation
Joint responsibility continues if the parents separate. The parent the child lives with ensures daily care and supervision, and the parents must still decide major matters jointly. Disputes go to the family court. Joint custody ends when an agreement or court decision sets up separate custody, and the court considers who the child lives with and who provides daily care. The other parent keeps the right to contact and to be informed.
What the child can say
The court seeks the child's opinion if the child can express it. A representative may be invited to find out the child's view, taking account of age and maturity.
Moving house or moving abroad with the child
The official fact sheet does not cover moving.
If the parents live in different countries
Latvia is a party to the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention, which lets a parent ask for a child wrongly taken to another country to be returned. It works only with countries that have accepted its accession, so check the other country on the treaty status table.
Within the EU, Regulation (EU) 2019/1111 (called Brussels IIb) decides which country's courts handle parental responsibility: in principle the courts of the country where the child habitually lives, and it speeds up the return of a child wrongly taken to another member state. Denmark does not take part in it.
Understand the legal system first
Latvia belongs to the Civil law family. Family law grows out of the legal tradition, so it helps to know how the system works.
Read the Latvia legal-system profile in the Legal Families Atlas →
Who owns what in a marriage in Latvia? →
Divorce rate and trend in Latvia →
Official sources
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TheLawToKnow Tools’s child custody guide is an educational overview of general rules. It is not legal advice, and it does not replace the official source or a lawyer in the country. Report a mistake.
