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Paternity/Co-motherhood - If you are married
Paternity/Co-motherhood before the child is born - if you are not married
Paternity/Co-motherhood after birth and until the child is 28 days old - if you are not married
Online declaration
Declaration on paper
If your child is more than 28 days old
Sole custody
Paternity/Co-motherhood of a child who died shortly after birth, stillbirth or miscarriage
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Children born in Denmark must have a father/co-mother registered in the CPR as a main rule. This is important because paternity/co-maternity confers a number of rights and duties on both the child and the father/co-mother.
Paternity/Co-motherhood - If you are married
If you are married when your child is born, the spouse is automatically registered at the birth of your child, and you have joint custody.
> Read more about birth registration if the mother lives in Denmark
> Read more about birth registration if the mother lives outside of Denmark
Paternity/Co-motherhood before the child is born - if you are not married
You can complete the Care and Responsibility Declaration online on borger.dk with MitID before your child is born. The declaration is automatically sent to the Agency of Family Law, who will process the case.
> Complete the Care and Responsibility Declaration online with MitID
> Find step-by-step guide to complete the Care and Responsibility Declaration online
If you cannot complete it online with MitID, you can use a declaration on paper.
> Find and download the Care and Responsibility Declaration on paper (pdf.)
You will receive a decision from the Agency of Family Law in your Digital Post.
Once the child is born, you must deliver a copy of the decision to the mother's registrar:
- If the mother lives in Denmark, the registrar is the local parish
- If the mother lives in the Southern part of Jutland, the registrar is the municipality in the Southern part of Jutland who registered the birth
- If you do not live in Denmark, you must deliver it to the parish near the hospital.
The registrar does not automatically receive a notification from the Agency of Family Law.
> Find more help to search your registrar
> Look up any words and terms that you are not familiar with
Paternity/Co-motherhood after birth and until the child is 28 days old - if you are not married
If you are not married, and you wish to apply for joint custody you must ensure to complete and deliver a Care and Responsibility Declaration before your child is 28 days old.
Online declaration
To apply for joint custody you can apply online by completing the Care and Responsibility Declaration on borger.dk. You must both sign the declaration with your MitID. The declaration is automatically sent to the mother's local parish. If the mother lives in the Southern part of Jutland, it is automatically sent to the municipality in the Southern part of Jutland who registered the birth.
> Complete the Care and Responsibility Declaration online with MitID
> Find your registrar
> Look up any words and terms that you are not familiar with
Declaration on paper
If you cannot use MitID, you can complete a declaration on paper and send it to the mother's parish of residence or to the mother’s municipality of residence in the Southern part of Jutland.
You will both be notified by your registrar when paternity/co-motherhood and joint custody are registered.
> Find and download the Care and Responsibility for Paternity Declaration on paper (pdf.)
> Look up any words and terms that you are not familiar with
If your child is more than 28 days old
If you did not fill out any Care and Responsibility Declaration within 28 days of the birth, the Agency of Family Law will send a letter to the mother’s Digital Post that includes further instructions to get joint custody.
Sole custody
If the mother is going to have sole custody, the Care and Responsibility Declaration should not be completed, and the mother will be contacted by the Agency of Family Law when the child is more than 28 days old. Advise for quicker administration: please contact the registrar who registered the birth and inform them that there is no other parent to be registered.
> Find your registrar
> Find contact information to the Agency of Family Law
Paternity/Co-motherhood of a child who died shortly after birth, stillbirth or miscarriage
> Read the article 'Child dead shortly after birth/dead child/miscarriage'
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Other relevant links
Read about paternity, co-maternity and parental custody on lifeindenmark.dk