Child custody in Costa Rica: types, process and how to modify custody

Custody and parental authority: two distinct concepts

In Costa Rica it is important to distinguish between parental authority (patria potestad) and the right of custody (guarda, crianza y educación). Parental authority encompasses the rights and duties both parents retain toward the child — including legal representation and decisions about health and education — and generally remains with both parents even after separation.

Custody (guarda, crianza y educación) determines where the child habitually resides and who provides day-to-day care. This is the aspect most frequently disputed in separation and divorce proceedings.

Types of custody in Costa Rica

The Family Code and the Code on Children and Adolescents recognize different custody arrangements, always aimed at protecting the child's best interest.

• Sole custody: the child lives permanently with one parent; the other has a visitation schedule
• Shared custody: the child alternates residence between both parents in agreed or court-ordered periods
• Third-party custody: in exceptional cases, the court may entrust custody to a relative or other trusted person when neither parent is in a position to exercise it

The best-interest-of-the-child principle

Every judicial custody decision in Costa Rica must be grounded in the best interest of the child, a principle enshrined in the Code on Children and Adolescents and in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by Costa Rica.

The court evaluates multiple factors: the child's emotional bond with each parent, each parent's ability to meet the child's needs, the child's own view when sufficiently mature, the stability of each environment, and each parent's willingness to facilitate the child's relationship with the other.

How custody is established

Custody may be established in three ways: by a parental agreement approved by the court, within the agreement of a consensual divorce, or by judicial ruling in a standalone custody proceeding.

• Voluntary parental agreement submitted to the court for approval
• Agreement included in the consensual divorce process
• Independent judicial proceeding before the Family Court when there is no agreement
• In all cases, the court may order social and psychological evaluations before deciding
• The child has the right to be heard, depending on their age and maturity

Visitation schedule

When one parent has sole custody, the other has the right to a visitation schedule ensuring regular contact with the child. This schedule may be agreed upon by the parents or set by the court.

Failure to comply with the visitation schedule — whether the custodial parent obstructs visits or the visiting parent fails to exercise them — may have legal consequences. The court may modify the schedule and may initiate contempt proceedings.

Modifying custody

No custody order is final: it may be modified when circumstances change substantially. The parent seeking modification must show that the current arrangement no longer serves the child's best interest.

Common grounds for modification include: a parent's change of residence, deterioration of the custodial environment, repeated non-compliance with the existing schedule, or changes in the child's needs or preferences as they grow.