Section 1. General Provisions.

Chapter 1. Family. Regulation of Family Relationship

Clause 1. Task of Family Law of Ukraine.

1. The Family Law of Ukraine defines foundations of marriage, personal non-property and property rights and duties of spouses, grounds of emergence, substance of personal non-property and property rights and duties of parents and children, adoptive parents and adoptive children and other family members and relatives.

2. Regulating family relationship is done with this Law in order to:

- to consolidate a family as a social institution and a unity of the certain persons;
- to affirm the feeling of duty as to parents, children and other members of the family;
- to build family relationship on grounds of equality, feelings of mutual love and respect, mutual support;
- to provide each child with family upbringing, opportunity of spiritual and physical development.

Clause 2. Partners of family relationship that is regulated with the Family Law of Ukraine.

1. The Family Law of Ukraine regulates family personal non-property and property relationship between spouses, between parents and children, adoptive parents and adoptive children, between mother and father of a child as to upbringing, development and support of a child.

2. The Family Law of Ukraine regulates family personal non-property and property relationship between grandmother, grandfather, great-grandmother, great-grandfather and grandchildren, great-grandchildren, between brothers and sisters, between stepmother, stepfather and stepdaughter, stepson.

3. The Family Law of Ukraine regulates family personal non-property and (or) property relationship between other members of the family, determined in this law.

4. The Family Law of Ukraine does not regulate family relationship between cousins, between aunt, uncles and niece, nephews and between other relatives.

Clause 3. Family.

1. Family is the primary and main cell of society.

2. Family consists of persons, who live together, are bound with common being, have mutual rights and duties. Spouses are considered family also when a wife and a husband do not live together through different reasons,
for example, studies, work, medical treatment, taking care for parents or children and other good reasons. Child belongs to a family of his/her parents even if he/she does not live together with his/her family.

3. A single person has the rights of a family member.

4. Family is made on ground of marriage, blood relationship, adoption and other grounds, which are not in disagreement with law and moral norms of society.

Clause 4. Right of a person to have a family.

1. A person can have a family if she/he has an age of marriage. In cases, mentioned in Item 2 of Clause 23 of this Law, a family can be made by a person, who has not reached the age of marriage.

2. Family can be made by a person irrespective of age if a child has been born.

3. Each person has a right for living in the family. A person can be forcefully isolated from the family only in cases and orders, established by law.

4. Each person has a right for respect as to his/her family life.

Clause 5. Governmental protection of family.

1. Government protects family, childhood, motherhood, fatherhood and provides the family with conditions for its normal development.

2. Government provides a person with conditions for motherhood and fatherhood, gives protection of rights of a father and a mother, support a fatherhood and a motherhood materially and morally.

3. Government provides with priority of family upbringing of a child.

4. Government takes each child, who has no parents' care, under its own protection.

5. Nobody can interfere in family life and relationship, except the cases, mentioned in the Constitution of Ukraine.

Clause 6. Child.

1. A person, who has not come of age, has the legal status of "child".

2. A child, who is less than 14 years old, has the status of pupil child. Minor child is a child, who is between 14 and 18 years old.

Clause 7. General foundations of regulation of family relationship.

1. Family relationship is regulated with this Law and other statutory-legal acts.

2. Family relationship can be regulated through mutual agreement (contract) of family partners.

3. Family relationship is regulated only in that part of relationship, where it is acceptable and possible in terms of interests of family partners and interests of society.

4. Regulation of family relationship is performed, taking into account the right for confidence of private life of family partners, their right for personal freedom and inadmissibility of interference in family life.

5. A participator of family relationship cannot have any privileges or restrictions through race, skin color, sex, political, religious and other credos, ethnic and social origin, financial state, place of residence etc.

6. A women and a man have the equal rights and duties in family relationship.

7. A child has to be provided with opportunity to exercise his/her rights, established with Constitution of Ukraine, Convention of Rights of Child and other international legal acts, acknowledged in Ukraine.

8. Regulation of family relationship is executed in accordance with the best interests of children and incapable members of the family.

9. Family relationship is regulated on grounds of justice, scrupulosity, rationality, according to moral canons of the society.

10. Each participator of family relationship has the right for court protection.

Clause 8. Application of the Civil Code of Ukraine to regulation of family relationship.

1. If property relationship between spouses, parents and children, other members of family and their relatives is not regulated with this Law, it is regulated with answering canons of the Civil Code of Ukraine if it is not in disagreement with the substance of family relationship.

Clause 9. Regulating family relationship through agreement (contract) of family partners.

1. Spouses, parents of children, parents and children, other members of the family and their relatives, whose relationship is regulated with this Law, can regulate their relationship through the agreement (contract) if this is not in disagreement with requirements of this Law, other laws and moral fundamentals of the society.

2. Persons, who live as a family, and relatives by origin, whose relationship is not regulated with this Law, can regulate their family relationship with a contract, which must be closed in written form. It is obligatory to follow the contract, if it is not in disagreement with the requirements of this Law, other laws of Ukraine and moral canons of the society.

Clause 10. Application of analogy of law.

1. If some certain family relationship is not regulated with this Law or agreement (contract) of partners, the canons of this Law, which regulate similar relationship, are applicable to them (analogy of law).

2. If it is impossible to use analogy of law to regulate such a family relationship, it is regulated in accordance with general fundamentals of family legislation.

Clause 11. Consideration of habits and traditions at court hearing, when the court hears the family debates.

1. In the court hearing, through the application of the person the court can consider local habits and traditions as well as habits and traditions of national minority, to which the parties or one of the parties belong, if these habits and traditions are not in disagreement with requirements of this Law, other laws of Ukraine and moral canons of the society.

Clause 12. Terms, established in this Law.

1. This Law establishes terms in accordance with the Civil Code of Ukraine.

Clause 13. International treaties of Ukraine.

1. Part of the national family legislation of Ukraine consists of international treaties, which were approved by Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (Ukrainian Parliament).

Chapter 2. Exercise of family rights and fulfillment of family duties. Protection of family rights and interests.

Clause 14. Exercise of family rights.

1. Family rights are considered very personal and cannot be transferred to another person.

2. If a child or a person, whose legal capacity is limited, cannot exercise his/her family rights, these rights are exercised by his parents, a custodian or by the person with the help of his parents or custodian.

3. Family rights of legally incapable person are exercised by his/her custodian.

Clause 15. Fulfillment of family duties.

1. Family duties are considered very personal and cannot transferred to another person.

2. If a person has been acknowledged legally incapable, his her family duty of personal non-property character is discontinued due to his/her inability to fulfill it. Property duty of a  legally incapable person is fulfilled by his/her custodian on account of the person.

3. If a person cannot fulfill his/her family duty through his/her mental disorder, severe disease or another reasonable excuse, this person is not considered one, who avoid fulfillment of his/her duties.

4. Non-fulfillment or avoiding fulfillment of family duties can be a cause for application consequences, established with this Law or an agreement (contract) of the parties.

Clause 16. Providing non-adult parents with help in exercising their rights and fulfillment of their parents' duties.

1. If a mother, a father of a child is non-adult, then a grandmother, a grandfather from the side of that parent, who is non-adult, is/are obliged to help in exercising his/her parent's right and fulfillment of parent's duties.

Clause 17. Help of Body of Custody and Guardianship to persons in exercising their family rights and fulfillment of their family duties.

1. Body of Custody and Guardianship provides a person with help in exercising his/her family rights and fulfillment of his/her family duties in breadth and order, established with this Law and other statutory-legal acts.

Clause 18. Protection of family rights and interests.

1. Each participator of family relationship, who is 14 years old or more, has the right to turn to the court for protection of his/her right and interest.

2. The court applies the modes of protection, which are established with the law or an agreement (contract) of the parties.

The modes of protection of rights and interests are:

(1) establishing legal relationship;
(2) forcible fulfillment of unfulfilled duty;
(3) discontinuation of legal relationship and canceling it;
(4) termination of actions, which break family rights;
(5) renewal of legal relationship, which existed before the right was broken;
(6) compensation for material and moral damage if this is provided with this Law or contract.

Clause 19. Participation of the Body of Custody and Guardianship in the process of protection of family rights and interests.

1. In cases, mentioned in this Law, a person has a right to preliminarily turn to the Body of Custody and Guardianship for protection of his/her family rights and interests.

2. The decision of the Body of Custody and Guardianship comes into force of law in 10 days from the date when the decision was made. Within 10 days a person can turn to the court for protection of his rights and interests
except the case, mentioned in Item 2, Clause 170 of this Law.

3. Turning to the Body of Custody and Guardianship for protection does not cancel the right of a person to turn to the court. If an application has been lodged in the court, the Body of Custody and Guardianship discontinues consideration of the application, which was previously lodged. In case if an application was lodged in the court, implementation of the decision of the Body of Custody and Guardianship is discontinued.

4. The Body of Custody and Guardianship necessarily participates in court hearing when the court hears the cases of participation of a parent in upbringing of a child, about the place of residence of a child, about depriving parents of their parents' rights, retrieval of parents rights, meeting of a child with his/her parents who were deprived of parents' rights, taking a child from a person, who holds the child not on the ground of law or court decree, parents' administration of child's property, canceling an act of adoption of a child and acknowledging this act as
invalid.

5. The Body of Custody and Guardianship delivers a conclusion in written form to the court as to the dispute on grounds of information, which was received as a result of examining the living conditions of a child, parents, other persons, who wish to live with the child and participate in his/her upbringing and education and also on grounds of other documents that pertain to this case.

6. The court can disagree with the conclusion of the Body of Custody and Guardianship, if the conclusion is not sufficiently grounded and is in disagreement with interests of a child.

Clause 20. Application of limitation of action as to requirements that appear in family relationship.

1. Limitation of action as to requirements that appear in family relationship is not applicable except the cases, mentioned in Item 2 of Clause 72, Item 2 of Clause 129, Item 3 of Clause 138, Item 3 of Clause 139 of this Law.

2. In cases, mentioned in Item 1 of this clause limitation of action is applicable in accordance with the Civil Code of Ukraine, if another mode is not provided with this Law.

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