Bulgaria’s National Assembly approved at first reading three draft amendments to the Family Code. GERB-SDS propose introducing the possibility of shared parenting in cases of divorce, with the court ruling also addressing the issue of the child’s travel abroad. Vazrazhdane’s draft provides for equal treatment of both parents in awarding custody rights upon the dissolution of marriage. The draft by There Is Such a People (ITN) sets a minimum period of four months for one parent to be able to spend time with their child.

In practice, nearly half of all marriages in Bulgaria end in divorce, placing a significant number of children at risk. There are at least 350,000 mothers in the country who are currently raising their children alone. A large portion of them do not receive child support. The new texts proposed by GERB-SDS revise the existing option that allows parents, during divorce proceedings, to decide on their own all matters concerning the upbringing and care of underage children. A topic of debate in the three draft amendments to the Family Code is the ability of the court to grant joint custody of both parents in divorce cases, even if they cannot agree on it.

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