The German Bundestag passed a law reforming family law in the evening. The new regulations will make it easier for biological fathers who are not married to the mothers of their children to legally establish paternity. The parliament's decision implements a ruling by the German Constitutional Court, which found the previous regulations insufficient. A key change is the possibility to challenge the legally established paternity of another man if a close bond exists between the child and the biological father.
Implementation of Court Ruling
The passed law directly implements the ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe. The court ruled that previous law did not guarantee biological fathers an effective procedure for establishing paternity, violating their constitutional rights.
End to Exclusivity of Social Bond
The previous obstacle, the so-called socio-familial relationship (sozial-familiäre Beziehung) between the child and the legal father, ceases to be an absolute barrier. It blocked the possibility of challenging paternity, even if another man was the biological parent but performed custodial functions for the child.
New Conditions for Challenge
From now on, a biological father can apply to challenge established paternity if he proves the existence of a close bond with the child. The second basis is a situation where such a bond was broken, but not due to the biological father's fault. This opens the way in cases where contact with the child was hindered.
The German parliament, the Bundestag, voted on Wednesday evening to amend family law provisions, significantly strengthening the position of biological fathers in paternity establishment procedures. The law is a direct response to a ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe, which deemed the previous legal situation unconstitutional. The court ruled that biological fathers who are not married to the mother of their child were not provided an effective means to assert their parental rights. The reform aims to close this legal gap. The previous regulation was based on the concept of the so-called socio-familial relationship. This institution protected the legal stability of the existing family situation, even if the child's biological father was another man. When such a custodial and emotional bond developed between the child and the man registered as the legal father (often the mother's partner), the biological father had practically no chance to challenge this status. The constitutional court found that this solution excessively restricted the rights of the biological father, denying him a real opportunity to establish or maintain a relationship with his own child. This ruling resulted from a complaint by a specific man who was denied paternity recognition despite biological kinship, precisely due to the existence of a socio-familial relationship between the child and another man. The new law introduces two key conditions that enable a biological father to challenge established paternity. First, he must demonstrate the existence of a close, personal bond with the child. Second, the basis can also be a situation where such a bond existed but was broken through no fault of the biological father – for example, due to actions by the mother or legal guardian preventing contact. This second condition is protective and aims to prevent situations where a father is deprived of contact with the child and then loses the possibility of legal intervention due to the lack of a current bond. The reform does not completely abolish the institution of the socio-familial relationship but gives it a new, more nuanced role. It will still be considered by family courts but will no longer constitute an automatic and insurmountable barrier. Judges will have to make difficult assessments, balancing the child's right to stability in family life with the biological father's right to be a parent. The legal institution of paternity has a long history, initially focused on issues of inheritance and legitimacy within marriage. In traditional Roman law and later continental systems, the legal status of a child was strongly tied to the marriage of the parents. Biological paternity outside marriage often did not entail legal consequences. Modern family law, especially since the second half of the 20th century, has evolved towards greater recognition of biological ties and the actual involvement of parents in the child's life, regardless of the formal status of the relationship. The adopted law has been widely received in German media, which emphasize its groundbreaking nature. It is seen as a significant shift in emphasis in German family law – from the primacy of a purely formal and social construction of the family towards greater consideration of biological kinship and actual emotional bonds. This change fits into a broader trend in European jurisprudence, including that of the European Court of Human Rights, which increasingly defends parental rights based on biological ties and actual involvement. The law still requires the signature of the federal president, which in this case is mostly a formality. Its entry into force will mean that hundreds, perhaps thousands of men in Germany will gain new legal tools to fight for contact and legal status in the lives of their biological children. The reform may also lead to an increase in court cases where courts will have to examine the delicate matter of family bonds, deciding what is in the best interests of the child in each case.