Legal Status of Minor Testator’s Parents Deprived of Parental Authority in Intestate Succession. Some Remarks on the Solutions in Polish, Russian, and Italian Law

The legal situation of minor testator’s parents in intestate succession poses a significant legal and social problem. In Polish law, parents who have been deprived of parental authority continue to enjoy their civil-law status; in other words, they maintain the right to inherit from their child under statute. Meanwhile, the reasons for which the court applied the strictest possible “sanction” in the form of deprivation of authority of parents who, in exercising their rights under parental authority, seriously violated the child’s interest or grossly neglected parental obligations, which is noticeable even to an ordinary bystander, seem to be sufficient “proof” that family ties, which are decisive for the statutory title to inherit, do not exist. If these ties are severed or seriously disrupted, the consequences should be seen in all areas of life. Simply put, persons who deliberately break apart the family should not enjoy the advantages that the law provides for testator’s closest relatives. In such a case, to consider the effect of deprivation of parental authority by “releasing” its holders from any obligation towards the child may not be considered a sufficient civil sanction, especially given that in the vast majority of cases, the reason for such deprivation is gross neglect of parental duties by one or both parents. The consequences of this type of negligence should also, if not primarily, consist in the deprivation of pecuniary benefits that the parents of a minor could enjoy after his or her death. The current legal solutions governing this area undoubtedly need to be revised. Such imperfect normative solutions adopted in Polish law prove the need to propose de lege ferenda recommendations. In this context, it is worthwhile to have a look at the normative solutions adopted in foreign legal systems and whether they can be grafted on Polish law. The reference to the Russian and Italian legal systems seems particularly recommendable due to the fact that their normative solutions directly allude to the institution of deprivation of parental authority in the context of admissibility of the title to inherit.

Frontline Professionals Performing Collaborative Work with Low-Income Families: Challenges across Organizational Boundaries

This article discusses certain challenges relating to interagency collaboration between the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) and Child Welfare Services (CWS). We have asked what obstacles to holistic work with low-income families who receive measures from NAV and CWS simultaneously can be identified. The departure point is collaboration on a local project at the municipal level. The differences between the views of the individual services (and the mandates based on these views) with regard to parental obligations have proved challenging. Using the theory of institutional logic, we have explored how different logics have influenced these services’ approaches to parenthood and the significance of these influences for interagency collaboration. We have also investigated how caseworkers in the two services have managed to create reflective spaces for negotiating and bridging various understandings to create new ways of working together. In addition to collecting and analysing data, our task as researchers has been to facilitate joint working processes in the project. The article is based on interviews with caseworkers from both services, discussions during two workshops, and a subsequent dialogue seminar with employees from the two services.

THE IMPORTANCE OF INTER-AGENCY COLLABORATION AND FAMILY LAW NETWORKING IN HANDLING FAMILY CASES: EXAMPLE FROM AUSTRALIA

Family law is one of the areas that requires the collaboration of experts and practitioners from various discipline. The objective of this paper is to discuss the importance of inter-agency collaboration between various agencies in order to resolve family cases holistically. This is rooted in the understanding that family cases normally involve legal and non-legal issues that require resolutions which are beyond black and white of the law. Some cases involve financial, health or other social issues that call for advice from experts in that area. Based on the study conducted, it is found that inter-agency collaboration is needed due to limitations in the substantive family law, it is also to help vulnerable groups, and to provide holistic resolution of family disputes. Understanding the importance of such collaboration, this paper subsequently looks for example based on the practice of Australia that has established a network to coordinate the family law system. The network has been able to disseminate information and conduct pieces of training, expedite the process of referral effectively, and establish linkages between specialists in family law. Such networking and collaboration can help the litigants dealing with their legal, emotional and practical aspect of the issues that they are facing. It also helps the agencies gain a mutual understanding of each other’s role and functions. In addition to that, it may help the disputing parties making an informed decision and prepare for future adjustment to carry on with their parental obligations.

Parental obligations, care and HIV treatment: How care for others motivates self-care in Zimbabwe

This article examines how parental obligations of care intersect with HIV treatment-seeking behaviours and retention. It draws on qualitative data from eastern Zimbabwe, produced from 65 interviews. Drawing on theories of practice and care ethics, our analysis revealed that norms of parental obligation and care acted as key motivators for ongoing engagement with HIV services and treatment. Parents’ attentiveness to the future needs of their children ( caring about), and sense of obligation ( taking care of) and improved ability to care ( caregiving) following treatment initiation, emerged as central to understanding their drive for self-care and engagement with HIV services.

Werknemers as Lasgewende Ouers in Surrogasie-Aangeleenthede: Die Geboorte van nuwe Verlof-behoeftes in Suid-Afrika

Commissioning parents in terms of a surrogacy agreement have the same parental obligations as traditional parents towards their child. However, since the legitimising of surrogacy in terms of the Children’s Act in 2005, no provision has been made to accommodate the need for leave from work for commissioning parents in order to fulfil their obligations in this regard. The only form of recourse available to commissioning parents may be found in section 27 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) which provides for family responsibility leave of three days. It is submitted that this is insufficient. In the matter of MIA v State Information Technology Agency, it was mentioned in passing that amendments to current labour legislation are necessary to address the lacunae in this respect. As was seen in this matter, the absence of legislative provisions regarding relevant leave will likely give rise to claims of discrimination based on various grounds. The Labour Laws Amendment Bill 2015 has since proposed amendments to the BCEA regarding, amongst others, leave for surrogacy matters. It currently proposes ten weeks commissioning parental leave to be available to one commissioning parent and ten days ordinary parental leave to the other, to be taken from the date of birth. Although the Bill is welcomed, various concerns pertaining to the duration and management of the various types of leave can be identified that need urgent address, particularly as far as the best interests of the child is concerned. The latest developments in the United Kingdom in relation to the above matter provides that its legal system serves as a worthy comparator to provide guidance as to how the Bill may be improved in order to protect all the relevant parties to a surrogacy agreement, as well as the child born in terms thereof.

Family caregiving for adults with sickle cell disease and extremely high hospital use

This study investigated coping with chronic illness in the adult patient–caregiver relationship for sickle cell disease, marked by debilitating acute and chronic pain. One-on-one interviews ( N = 16) were conducted with eight primary caregivers of eight adults with extremely high hospital use, severe sickle cell disease with hospital admissions several times monthly over successive years. Caregivers were predominantly parents; two were romantic partners. Caregivers attributed disruptions to the disease’s variability, tensions in how much support to give, and adults’ inability to fulfill parental obligations. Both groups expressed fears of patients’ increasing age, declining health, and early death. Targeted counseling and resilience training is recommended.

Sympathy and misery in families with drinking problems

Sympathy is an emotion that connects people in trouble with those around them. This paper uses Candace Clark’s sociological theory on sympathy-giving to explore the emotional relationships between adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs) and their parents. Three dimensions are singled out as being central to sympathy-giving. We show, first, that the ‘sympathy accounts’ of alcoholic parents are related to the degree to which they live up to standardized parental obligations. Second, ACOAs’ sympathy investment in their parents is associated with the parents’ reciprocation – in terms of returning the sympathy, showing gratitude and/or acknowledging their problems and trying to solve them. Third, the interviewees’ sympathy-giving is related to the moral status they ascribe to problem drinkers, and especially their conceptions of alcohol problems as being self-inflicted or caused by circumstances the drinker cannot control. The paper is based on qualitative interviews with 25 ACOAs recruited through a survey in Denmark.