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What Support Can I Receive from Family Law Services?
When separated parents can't agree about the children, Family Law Services (familjerätten) in your municipality can help. Here's what they do — and what support you can get.
What Is Family Law Services?
Family Law Services (familjerätten) is a unit within your municipality (kommun) where parents who are going their separate ways can get help and support with questions of custody, residence, and visitation — primarily through cooperation talks. The unit also handles adoption, confirmation of paternity and parenthood, and can arrange supported visitation when a child needs help in their contact with a parent. Exactly how Family Law Services is organized varies from one municipality to another.
What Kind of Support Does Family Law Services Offer?
Cooperation Talks (Samarbetssamtal)
The main service Family Law Services offers is cooperation talks: structured conversations that help parents build a working parenting team and reach lasting solutions for the children. Parents book the talks themselves, and both need to be willing to take part — Family Law Services cannot force anyone to participate.
Help Writing a Legally Binding Agreement
If you and the other parent agree on custody, residence, and visitation, Family Law Services can help you put the agreement in writing. Once the social services approve it, the agreement is legally binding in the same way as a court judgment. Before approval, an assessment is made to confirm that the agreement is in the child's best interests.
Mandatory Information Meetings Before Going to Court
If the parents cannot reach an agreement through Family Law Services and a decision is still needed, one of them must take the dispute to court. Before that is possible, both parents are required to attend a mandatory information meeting with Family Law Services. The requirement can be waived when there are special reasons — for example, if an urgent decision is needed to protect the child from abuse.
Elisabeth Scholander Family law attorney and mediator, specialized in conflict resolution for families
27 August 2026
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