Serbian Family Act (Porodični zakon) in brief: divorce, children, maintenance
Porodični zakon, Serbia's Family Act: scope, current citation, divorce, exercise of parental rights, child maintenance, joint property and key deadlines.
What the Family Act (Porodični zakon) covers and whom it applies to
Porodični zakon is the basic family law statute in Serbia. It governs marriage and relations within marriage, relations in cohabitation, relations between child and parents, adoption, foster care, guardianship, maintenance, property relations in the family, protection from domestic violence, procedures relating to family relations, and personal names.
It applies to spouses and cohabiting partners, parents and children, adoptive parents, foster parents and guardians, as well as to other relatives where maintenance is concerned. The Act rests on several principles: the family enjoys special protection of the state, everyone must be guided by the child's interests as the primary consideration, spouses are equal, and domestic violence is prohibited. In these matters the court works closely with the guardianship authority, that is, the social work centre.
Official citation: Porodični zakon (Sl. glasnik RS, Nos. 18/2005, 72/2011 - other statute, 6/2015 and 109/2025 - other statute). The Act has applied since 1 July 2005. The latest direct amendment was published in No. 6/2015 and entered into force on the day after publication. The Law on the Civil Registry (Zakon o matičnom registru, No. 109/2025), as another statute, provides that Art. 303(2) and (3) of the Family Act cease to apply when that law starts to apply, on 12 December 2028. It aligned the Act with the notary system: a declaration acknowledging paternity may also be made before a notary (Art. 51), agreements on statutory maintenance are concluded as a notarial deed (Art. 161), and an agreement dividing joint marital property and a marriage contract must be in the form of a notarially certified (solemnised) document (Art. 179, 188 and 189).
How the Act is structured
The Act has more than 360 articles in twelve parts:
- Part One: Basic provisions
- Part Two: Marriage (conclusion, nullity and voidability, termination, divorce)
- Part Three: Relations between child and parents (maternity and paternity, rights of the child, parental rights, deprivation of parental rights)
- Part Four: Adoption
- Part Five: Foster care
- Part Six: Guardianship
- Part Seven: Maintenance
- Part Eight: Property relations (of spouses, cohabiting partners, child and parents)
- Part Nine: Protection from domestic violence
- Part Ten: Procedures relating to family relations
- Part Eleven: Personal name
- Part Twelve: Transitional and final provisions
The most searched provisions of the Family Act
Divorce (Art. 40 and 41). Divorce by agreement requires a complete agreement on children and property. In a divorce on a claim, the court does not establish fault, but whether relations are seriously and permanently disturbed.
The child's right to live with parents and to maintain personal relations (Art. 60 and 61). The child maintains personal relations with the parent they do not live with. Only a court may restrict that right, when it is in the child's interest.
Joint and sole exercise of parental rights (Art. 75-78). Parents who do not live together may exercise parental rights jointly if they conclude an agreement approved by the court. Otherwise one parent exercises them alone, while the other pays maintenance, maintains personal relations with the child and takes part in decisions on important matters in the child's life.
The child's opinion (Art. 65). Due weight is given to the child's opinion, in line with the child's age and maturity.
Child maintenance (Art. 154, 155, 160 and 162). The amount depends on the child's needs and the parent's means. The right to statutory maintenance does not become time-barred, but individual instalments that have fallen due are time-barred under the general rules of Zakon o obligacionim odnosima (Law on Contracts and Torts).
Spousal maintenance (Art. 151 and 163). It belongs to a spouse who lacks sufficient means and is unable to work or unemployed, unless that would be manifestly unjust to the other spouse.
Joint property and division (Art. 171-180). Division establishes each spouse's share. In determining a larger share, income, running the household, care of children and care of property are taken into account.
Marital property agreement (Art. 188). Spouses or future spouses may exclude the statutory joint property regime by agreement. The agreement is concluded as a notarially certified document and, if it concerns real estate, is entered in the public register.
Domestic violence (Art. 197-200). Violence is conduct by which one family member endangers the physical integrity, mental health or peace of another member.
Special procedural rules (Art. 201-208 and 230). Proceedings concerning a child are urgent and as a rule are conducted in no more than two hearings. The claim is not served for a written defence. In a marital dispute started by a claim, mediation is normally conducted, apart from the statutory exceptions, for example when one spouse does not agree to it.
Where to read the official text
The official consolidated text is available in the Legal Information System of the Republic of Serbia: Porodični zakon at pravno-informacioni-sistem.rs. The Family Act provides the framework, while the outcome in a specific case depends on the family's circumstances and the assessment of the guardianship authority. For that reason neither the amount of maintenance nor the contact arrangement can be reliably calculated from the text of the Act alone.
Sources
- Family Act (Porodični zakon, Sl. glasnik RS Nos. 18/2005, 72/2011 - other statute, 6/2015 and 109/2025 - other statute), Art. 4, 51, 161, 179, 188 and 189
- Inheritance Act (Zakon o nasleđivanju, Sl. glasnik RS Nos. 46/95, 101/2003 and 6/2015), Art. 8
- Bill amending the Family Act (2015), with explanatory memorandum
What to do
- A person under 18 cannot marry; a court may, for justified reasons, allow a minor who has turned 16 to marry (Art. 23).
- A child who has turned 10 may freely and directly express an opinion in any proceedings deciding on the child's rights (Art. 65), and a child who has turned 15 may decide which parent to live with (Art. 60).
- An adult child in regular education is maintained until the age of 26 at the latest (Art. 155).
- When maintenance is set as a percentage, it is as a rule between 15% and 50% of the debtor's regular monthly income, net of taxes and contributions (Art. 162).
- Spousal maintenance after the marriage ends cannot last longer than five years, except in exceptional cases (Art. 163).
- A mother may sue to establish paternity within one year of learning that the man has not acknowledged paternity, and no later than 10 years after the child's birth; the child may sue regardless of any time limit (Art. 251). Similar periods apply to contesting paternity (Art. 252).
- In proceedings concerning a child, the first hearing is scheduled to take place within 15 days of the court receiving the claim, and the appellate court decides within 30 days of receiving the appeal (Art. 204).
- In a domestic violence protection case, the first hearing is held within eight days of receipt of the claim, and the appellate court decides within 15 days (Art. 285).
- A marital property agreement and an agreement on statutory maintenance are concluded before a notary public (Art. 188 and 161).
FAQ
How is a marriage dissolved under the Family Act?
In two ways. By agreement, when the spouses conclude a written divorce agreement, which must also contain an agreement on the exercise of parental rights and on the division of joint property (Art. 40). Or on the claim of one spouse, if marital relations are seriously and permanently disturbed or the community of life objectively cannot be maintained (Art. 41). In both cases the court decides on the divorce.
How much is child maintenance under the Act?
The Act does not prescribe a fixed amount. Maintenance is set according to the child's needs and the parent's means, taking into account the minimum maintenance sum (Art. 160). It may be claimed as a fixed monthly amount or as a percentage, which is as a rule between 15% and 50% of the debtor's regular monthly income (Art. 162). The amount may be increased or reduced when circumstances change (Art. 164).
Until when does a parent pay child maintenance?
Until the child comes of age, and after that if the child is in regular education, in proportion to the parents' means and until the age of 26 at the latest. An adult child who is unable to work and lacks sufficient means is maintained for as long as that situation lasts (Art. 154 and 155).
What is the spouses' joint property and how is it divided?
Joint property is property the spouses acquired through work during their community of life in marriage (Art. 171). Property acquired before marriage, by inheritance or by gift is separate property. If the spouses cannot agree, the court carries out the division, and the shares are presumed equal; a larger share must be proved (Art. 180). The same rules apply accordingly to cohabiting partners (Art. 191).
Does cohabitation carry the same rights as marriage?
Cohabitation (vanbračna zajednica) is a more lasting community of life of a woman and a man between whom there are no marriage impediments (Art. 4). Cohabiting partners have the rights and duties of spouses under the conditions set by the Act, above all regarding maintenance and joint property. Inheritance is governed by the Inheritance Act, which lists the spouse among the statutory heirs but not a cohabiting partner (Art. 8). A cohabiting partner can therefore inherit only under a will.
What protective measures against domestic violence does the Family Act provide?
The court may order one or more measures: an order to move out of the family home and an order to move in, regardless of ownership or tenancy, a ban on approaching within a set distance, a ban on access to the area around the place of residence or work, and a ban on further harassment (Art. 198). A measure may be extended until the reasons for it cease (Art. 199). Urgent police measures are governed by a separate statute, Zakon o sprečavanju nasilja u porodici (Domestic Violence Prevention Act).