Personal Contact with the Child and Handover of the Child

Establishing, Modifying and Restricting Personal Contact with the Child

Preserving a regular, safe relationship between the parent who does not exercise custody and the child, suited to the child’s development, is part of the child’s best interests. Personal contact should be arranged not only by fixed contact days, but taking into account the child’s age, school schedule, health, distance, transportation, holidays and the parents’ living conditions.

The decision may address weekday and weekend visits, semester and summer breaks, official and religious holidays, special occasions, telephone or video calls, the place of handover, transportation, accompaniment and, depending on the child’s age, overnight stays.

If the child’s well-being or safety is endangered, parental duties are seriously violated or the visits harm the child, the duration and form of personal contact may be changed. Where necessary, contact may be established under expert supervision; if the statutory conditions exist, it may be restricted or removed. Whether a more proportionate measure would suffice to protect the child is also assessed separately.

In exceptional circumstances and where the child’s best interests so require, personal contact may also be requested for grandparents, siblings or other persons with a family bond to the child. The importance of the relationship with the third person for the child must be shown concretely.

Handover of the Child and Implementation of the Personal Contact Decision

Judgments or interim orders on handover of the child and on establishing personal contact with the child are not implemented through enforcement offices in the form of classic enforcement proceedings. Under the special provisions of the Child Protection Law, the procedures are carried out by the judicial support and victim services directorates or by the units designated in the legislation, having regard to the child’s best interests, expert support and avoiding harm to the child.

If the decision is not complied with voluntarily, an application to the competent unit, service of a handover order, determination of a suitable handover location, recording of the procedures in minutes and, under the statutory conditions, a complaint route may arise. If the child experiences serious adjustment problems or a new safety risk arises, an expert assessment, a counseling measure or a request to the family court to rearrange personal contact may be sought.

The child’s psychological state and, if the child is mature enough to express it, the child’s views cannot be disregarded. At the same time, a court decision in force does not become void by the unilateral will of one of the parties. Implementation procedures and a new or urgent request for a measure must be assessed separately from each other.

The child must not be made a tool in the dispute between the parents. Questioning the child about the other parent, steering the child, making the child a message carrier or pulling the child into a conflict of loyalty may affect the child’s development and may be taken into account in later legal assessments.

What Should a Workable Parent Plan Contain?

Weekday, weekend, school holiday and religious holiday calendar; start and end times.
Handover location, the person who will provide transportation and the method of communication in case of delay.
Telephone or video call arrangements suited to the child’s age.
Sharing of education and health information; communication in emergencies.
Notice of travel and necessary permissions; ordinary and extraordinary expenses.

These headings are adapted to the file; a plan between the parties does not by itself change an existing court decision. If there is a risk of violence or to safety, direct communication and a joint handover model may not be appropriate.

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Legal basis

Depending on the nature of the claim, the Turkish Civil Code and the relevant provisions on procedure, protection and private international law apply together.

This content is general information. It does not replace a review of the specific file. Submitting an inquiry alone does not create an attorney–client relationship and does not stop statutory time limits.