Judgment No new religious affiliation of a child in a foster family

OLG Hamm: "Erstbestimmung" of the biological mother remains binding

(Jur). A child's religious affiliation remains valid even if the child grows up in a foster family that belongs to another religion and actively lives it. This was decided by the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Hamm in a decision announced on Friday, May 6, 2016 (Ref .: 2 UF 223/15).

This leaves a today eight-year-old girl from Duisburg Muslim. Her mother comes from North Africa and is of Muslim faith. The father is evangelical but not custodial.

Already shortly after birth, however, the youth welfare office took the girl into custody and deprived the mother of parental care, including the right to stay and health care. Several times, however, the mother expressed the wish that her daughter should be brought up muslim.

In 2008, the family court deprived the mother of all parental responsibility and transferred it to the youth welfare office as guardian. The girl is now growing up in a permanent care family. Their children are baptized catholic and are educated by the parents accordingly.

The foster parents now wish that their foster daughter is also baptized Catholic so that she can participate in Catholic religious education at school. The family court agreed to that. On appeal of the birth mother, the OLG Hamm overturned this decision but again.

The guardian, here so the youth welfare office, can not redefine the once established faith, decided the OLG. The religious affiliation had already been determined by the mother in the context of her still existing parental care. The guardian is bound to this "first determination". An amendment does not allow the law. According to OLG Hamm, in its already valid decision of 29 March 2016, whether or not this also corresponds to the best interests of the child is of no importance. (Mwo)