Modification of the Italian Law: The Legal Status of a Child

New Filiation Rules: No more A or B category division for children.

Legislative Decree of 28/12/2013 No 154, published on the Gazzetta Ufficiale on 08/01/2014

The Legislative Decree of 28/12/2013 No 154, published on the Gazzetta Ufficiale on 08/01/2014 No 5, modified the current law in order to avoid any discrimination still present in our jurisdiction between children born within or outside the marriage, guaranteeing the absolute legal equality between children.

The provisions of this Legislative Decree are the:

  • introduction of the uniqueness principle of the children status, even if adopted, and the consequent abolishment of any provision referring to “legitimate” or “natural” children, substituting those terms with the sole definition of “child”;
  • principle for which the filiation outside the marriage produces effects on the succession of all relatives and not only on the succession of the parents;
  • replacement of the definition of “parents’ authority” with “parents’ responsibility”; and
  • amendments to the International Private Law envisaging compulsory rules according to the uniqueness principle of the children status.

Moreover, taking into the consideration the Constitutional Court’s and the High Court of Appeal’s jurisprudence, it has been decided to:

  • set up the limit of five years to disown the paternity;
  • introduce the ascendants’ right to keep “significant relations” with grandchildren under the age of 18;
  • introduce and regulate the children under the age of 18’s rights to express themselves during relevant procedures, if they are considered able to do so;
  • raise up to 10 years the timeframe for children born outside the marriage to accept the inheritance; and
  • amend the current provision on successions that enable the legitimate children to apply their right of excluding natural children from the inheritance (“diritto di commutazione”), abolishing such right that so far was into force for the inheritance of natural children.

Avv. Carlo Pontei

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