Libro Primero · Título II Capítulo VII. De la patria potestad

Parental authority is exercised over minor children, jointly by the father and the mother in marriage and in the de facto union; and by the father or the mother in whose power the child is, in any other case.

Adult children shall remain under parental authority only if they have been declared in a state of interdiction.

The father and the mother are obligated to care for and support their children, whether born in or out of marriage, to educate them and correct them, employing prudent means of discipline, and shall be liable in accordance with criminal laws if they abandon them morally or materially and fail to fulfill the duties inherent to parental authority.

Parental authority comprises the right to legally represent the minor or incapacitated person in all acts of civil life; to administer their property and to make use of their services having regard to their age and condition.

While the marital bond or the de facto union subsists, the father and the mother shall jointly exercise parental authority, the representation of the minor or that of the incapacitated person and the administration of their property; both parents shall also hold it, jointly or separately, except in the cases regulated in Article 115, or in those of separation or divorce, in which the representation and the administration shall be exercised by whoever has the guardianship of the minor or of the incapacitated person.

Whenever there is a conflict of rights and interests between the father and the mother, in the exercise of parental authority, the respective judicial authority shall decide what is most conducive to the well-being of the child.

If the parents are minors, the administration of the children's property shall be exercised by the person who holds parental authority or guardianship over the father.

Parental authority over the adopted child is exercised solely by the person who has adopted him.

*6. By judicial declaration of adoptability issued by the judge of childhood and adolescence.

Persons over fourteen years of age have capacity to contract their work and receive the agreed remuneration, with which they shall help their parents for their own support.

Minor children must live with their parents, or with the father or mother who has them in his or her charge; they may not without their permission leave the paternal or maternal house or that in which their parents have placed them; domestic authority in all cases to be assisted by public authority, to make the children return to the power and obedience of their progenitors.

When the father and the mother are neither married nor joined in a de facto union, the children shall be in the custody of the mother, unless she agrees that they pass to the custody of the father, or that they be placed in an educational establishment.

If the separation of the parents results from the dissolution of the marriage, the provisions of Article 166 shall apply.

In any case, whoever by de facto means removes the child from the custody of the person who legally has charge of him shall be liable pursuant to law; and the authority shall provide assistance for the return of the child, in order to restore to parental authority the one who exercises it especially.

Notwithstanding what is prescribed in the preceding articles, when the conduct of the parents is harmful to the child and suspension or loss of parental authority is sought, the judge must adopt the urgent measures required by the interest and welfare of the minor and may also order, while deciding definitively, that the child leave the parents’ house and remain in the care of the nearest relative, or of another person of recognized honorability, or, if possible, of an educational center.

Children, even when they are of legal age and whatever their status and condition may be, must honor and respect their parents and are obligated to provide them assistance in all circumstances of life.

Parents may not alienate or encumber the property of the children nor contract in their name obligations exceeding the limits of their ordinary administration, except for cause of absolute necessity and evident utility and with prior authorization of the competent judge and intervention of the Public Prosecutor's Office.

Nor may parents enter into lease contracts for more than three years, nor receive rent in advance for more than one year, without judicial authorization; nor sell commercial and industrial securities, income securities, shares, bonds, fruits and livestock for less than the value quoted on the market on the day of the sale; nor provide guarantee on behalf of the children in favor of a third person.

Whenever the judge grants a license to alienate or encumber immovable property, the judge shall take the necessary measures to ensure that the proceeds of the sale or the amount of the credit is used for the purpose that motivated the authorization and that the balance, if any, is duly invested, being deposited in the meantime in a banking establishment.

Except in the case of intestate succession, whoever exercises parental authority may not acquire, either directly or indirectly, property or rights of the minor.

Acts performed in violation of this prohibition may be annulled at the request of the child or his heirs.

If a conflict of interest arises between children subject to the same parental authority, or between them and the parents, the judge shall appoint a special tutor.

If the person exercising parental authority squanders the children's property, or if through his mismanagement it is diminished or depreciated, he shall be separated therefrom, at the request of the minor's ascendants, his collateral relatives within the fourth degree of consanguinity, or the Public Prosecutor's Office.

The parents are obligated to furnish guarantee of the preservation and administration of the children's property, when they enter into subsequent marriages or when they are declared bankrupt.

If a donation is made to a person who is under parental authority, or an inheritance or legacy is left to such person, with the express condition that the property not be administered by the parents, the will of the donor or testator shall be respected, who must designate the administering person or institution and, if he or she does not do so, the appointment shall be made by the judge to a person of recognized solvency and honorability, if there is no banking institution authorized for such assignments.

Parents must deliver to the children, after the latter reach the age of majority, the property belonging to them and render an account of its administration.

Parental authority is suspended:

1º.For absence of the person exercising it, judicially declared;

2º.For interdiction, declared in the same form;

3º.For habitual drunkenness; and

4º.For having the habit of gambling or for the improper and constant use of narcotic drugs.

Parental authority is lost:

1.By reason of the depraved or scandalous customs of the parents, excessive harshness in the treatment of the children or abandonment of their family duties;

2.By devoting the children to begging, or giving them orders, advice, insinuations and corrupting examples;

3.By crime committed by one of the parents against the other, or against the person of any of their children;

4.By the exposure or abandonment that the father or the mother may make of their children, as to the one who has exposed or abandoned them; and

5.For having been convicted two or more times for a crime under the ordinary law, if the penalty exceeds three years of imprisonment for each crime.

6.By judicial declaration of adoptability issued by the judge for children and adolescents.

Parental authority is also lost when the child is adopted by another person.

Whoever has been suspended in the exercise of parental authority or has lost it shall not be exonerated from the obligations toward their children established in the present chapter.

Only the minor's ascendants, his collateral relatives within the fourth degree of consanguinity, and the Public Prosecutor's Office may bring the action regarding loss or suspension of parental authority. The innocent parent and the Public Prosecutor's Office shall be parties to the trial in all cases.

The judge, in view of the circumstances of each case, may, at the request of a party, restore the father or the mother to the exercise of parental authority in the following cases:

1.When the cause or causes of the suspension or loss have disappeared and were not for any crime against the persons or the property of the children;

2.When, in the case of a crime committed against the other spouse, to which paragraph 3 of Article 274 refers, there has been no recidivism and mitigating circumstances have existed; and

3.When rehabilitation is requested by the children over fourteen years of age or by their guardian, provided that the cause of loss of parental authority is not included within the specific cases determined by paragraph 1 of this article.

In all cases the good conduct of the person sought to be rehabilitated must be proven, for at least the three years prior to the date on which the respective request is filed.