Father who abandons his child loses parental authority

Madam Justice Abigail Lofaro, sitting in the Civil Court (Family Section), on 26 March 2026 gave a mother exclusive care and custody of her son and deprived the absent father of all parental authority. The court fixed maintenance at €325 a month and ordered arrears of €200 a month from the child's birth. It removed the father's authority under article 154(e) of the Civil Code after finding that he had abandoned the child.

The facts

In A. vs C.M., the parents had a relationship but never married, and had a son together. The mother testified that the father travelled for long periods and spent less than six months with the child in his first year. He left Malta in 2021 and has not seen, contacted or supported the child since.

The mother did not know where the father was, so the court appointed deputy curators to represent him. They said they did not know the facts and brought no evidence. Her brother and a friend of both parties supported her account by affidavit, and local banks testified that the father held no accounts with them.

She asked for exclusive custody, the right to take every decision about the child alone, maintenance and arrears from birth. Earlier in the case the court had authorised her to enrol the child in school and to consent to medical care on her own.

What the court held

The court started from the rule that the child's best interest is supreme. Article 7 of the Civil Code (Chapter 16 of the Laws of Malta) extends the duty in article 3B to care for, maintain, instruct and educate children to every parent, married or not. Article 56 lets the court decide custody with the welfare of the children as the main consideration.

The court found it uncontested that the father had made no contact since 2021 and showed no interest in his son. It held that joint custody is not workable where the parents do not communicate. It vested care and custody in the mother alone, with the child living with her in Malta.

On maintenance, article 20 ties the amount to the need of the person claiming and the means of the person paying. A parent cannot shed that duty, however low his income. Against a parent absent since the birth, the claimant must present a statement of approximate spending corroborated by a substantial number of receipts.

The mother produced only a list of monthly expenses, a payslip and household bills. On that limited evidence the court fixed €325 a month, covering health, education and extra-curricular activities, rising each year with the cost of living. Maintenance runs until the child turns 18, or 23 if he stays in full-time education, and children's allowance goes to the mother.

On arrears, the court cited the Court of Appeal: "l-obbligu li ġenitur imantni lil uliedu jitwieled fl-istess nifs li jitwieled il-wild ta’ dak il-ġenitur" (a parent's duty to maintain his children is born in the same breath as the child). No maintenance had ever been paid.

The mother gave no proof of past spending, and the court held that a younger child had needed less. It fixed arrears arbitrio boni viri, meaning on the judgment of a fair-minded person, at €200 a month from the birth until the judgment becomes res judicata.

Last, the court held that a parent without custody does not automatically lose parental authority. Here the abandonment was plain. Making the mother go to court each time she needed the father's consent would not serve the child, so the court applied article 149 and deprived him of all parental authority under article 154(e).

Why it matters

Where a parent has vanished, the Family Section can go beyond custody and remove parental authority. The other parent then no longer needs court authorisation for passports, schooling or medical care.

Lawyers seeking maintenance and arrears from an absent parent should file receipts, not only a list of expenses. Without them, the court will set a modest figure on equity.

Where it sits

Maltese law separates custody, meaning with whom the child lives, from parental authority under article 131. Article 154 lists when a parent may be removed from parental authority, including failure to meet the duties in article 3B. Article 149 lets the court make any order in the child's best interest, even where no party has asked for it.

The court relied on a long line of authority on the child's best interest, including judgments of the First Hall of the Civil Court (8 December 1858 and 27 November 2003) and of the Civil Court (Family Section) (31 May 2017 and 15 June 2017). It took the distinction between custody and authority from a Family Section judgment of 28 May 2015.

The rule against joint custody where parents do not communicate came from the Court of Appeal (3 October 2008). On the standard of proof for maintenance it cited Family Section judgments of 18 January 2022 and 27 January 2022. On arrears it cited the Court of Appeal in Z1 vs Z2 (13 January 2026) and NB v. AG (25 February 2025).

Source

Civil Court (Family Section), 136/2023, 26 March 2026.