Child custody in Samoa

Both parents are guardians and have parental responsibility, and the child's best interests are the main test.

The mother has custody of a child born outside marriage. The father can gain rights by having his name on the birth record, by agreement or by a court order.

The unmarried father, in one line: The mother has it; the father needs a step: a joint declaration, registration, agreement, or living with the mother at the birth.

The court decides custody and contact by the child's best interests. A young child usually stays with the mother and the other parent has contact, though the court can decide otherwise.

The court takes account of the child's wishes according to age and maturity. There is usually no fixed age.

Where both parents have parental responsibility, taking a child to live abroad generally needs both parents' agreement or a court's permission. Check the rules before any move.

Samoa is not in force under the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention, so there is no treaty route to ask for a child to be returned. Local advice is essential.

• In many island countries family life is also shaped by customary rules, which can give a role to the father's or the mother's family.

Samoa belongs to the Common law family. Family law grows out of the legal tradition, so it helps to know how the system works.

Read the Samoa legal-system profile in the Legal Families Atlas →
Who owns what in a marriage in Samoa? →

• JuriGlobe, University of Ottawa: world legal systems
• World Bank: Women, Business and the Law (country data on parenthood and marriage)