Shared custody law in Norway (delt bosted): what the rules say in 2026

Norwegian law has no presumption of equal or shared residence. Parents are free to agree that the child lives permanently with both of them — delt bosted — but where they disagree, the tingrett, the district court for the child's home area, must decide that the child lives permanently with one of them, and may order shared residence only where særlege grunnar — special grounds — exist. Norwegian law also splits what English calls custody in two: parental responsibility is joint by default, and where the child lives is a separate question.

A completely new Children Act was sanctioned on 20 June 2025 and would drop that special-grounds condition. It is not in force. Commencement is left to the King, no date has been set, and as at 27 September 2026 — fifteen months after it was sanctioned — the 1981 Act still governs every case. What follows is the law in force, and then what the adopted Act would change.

What Norwegian law actually says about shared care

Parental responsibility (foreldreansvar) is already joint. Under barnelova, the Children Act of 8 April 1981 no. 7, married parents hold it together until an agreement or a decision says otherwise. Unmarried parents also hold it jointly; where they do not live together, the mother can notify the population register within a year of paternity being established and then holds it alone. Separation does not by itself change any of this.

Where the child lives is the contested question. Section 36 gives parents a choice: they may agree that the child lives permanently with both of them or with one. A 2018 amendment put “with both” first — the order of the options parents may agree on, nothing more. The second paragraph decides litigated cases: if the parents disagree, the court must decide that the child lives permanently with one of them, and only if special grounds exist may it order that the child live with both. That sentence has been in the Act since 1 July 2010.

Delt bosted is a status, not a timetable. The Act attaches no percentage of time to it. What turns on it is decision-making: where the child lives permanently with one parent, the other cannot oppose that parent's decisions on essential parts of the child's care — the kindergarten, where in the country they live. Shared residence removes that power.

Contact is the child's right. The child has a right to contact with both parents even though they live apart, and where contact is not in the child's best interests the court must decide there is to be none. “Vanleg samværsrett” — ordinary contact rights — is a defined label, not an automatic award: chosen, it means one weekday afternoon with an overnight, alternate weekends, three summer weeks and alternate autumn, Christmas, winter and Easter holidays.

The law that is coming is not here yet. Under the adopted 2025 Act, parents who do not live together must agree where the child lives and may agree on delt bustad; where they disagree the court decides whether the child lives with both or with one, with no special-grounds hurdle. It gives both parents dagleg myndigheit — daily authority over the child's most important daily decisions — where they lived together at the birth, and makes contact a mutual right. None of it applies until the King sets a date.

Sources: [2], [5], [6], [9], [10], [11]

How a Norwegian court decides where a child lives

Best interests first, with no statutory checklist. Decisions on parental responsibility, residence and contact — and the way the case is handled — must be governed first and foremost by what is best for the child, and the child must not be exposed to violence or to treatment that endangers physical or mental health. For the residence question the Act lists no factors at all.

The child is heard, but does not choose. From the age of seven, and younger if the child can form a view, the child must be informed and given an opportunity to state an opinion; from 12 the child's view must be given great weight.

Residence is binary by default. On disagreement the court must pick one home, and may order shared residence only on special grounds — a deliberately narrow exception rather than an assessment of what would be marginally better. Where the Act does set criteria is contact: weight is given to the best possible total parental contact, the child's age, how attached the child is to the local area, the travel distance between the parents, and other regard for the child.

Mediation comes before the courtroom. Parents with common children under 16 must attend mediation before a case about parental responsibility, residence or contact can be brought, and a valid mediation certificate is a condition of suing. The certificate is issued after one hour of mediation at a family counselling office and is valid for six months, and the mediator is to offer three further hours. Either parent may then sue in the court where the child has its ordinary venue; the judge must move the case along and keep testing for a settlement.

Sources: [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [13]

What Norwegian families actually do

Shared residence is common, and it grew fast. In Statistics Norway's 2020 survey of parents who had previously lived together, 43 per cent reported delt bosted, against 25 per cent in 2012 and 9 per cent in 2002. It was still most common for the child to live permanently with the mother (49 per cent), and rare with the father (7 per cent). Two cautions travel with those numbers: the base is parents surveyed, not children, and the survey has not been run since 2020.

Because delt bosted carries no statutory fraction, label and calendar can come apart: a 60/40 arrangement can be shared residence, and an exactly equal week-on, week-off rhythm can legally sit under one parent's fast bosted with extensive samvær. The alternating-weeks guide, the 50/50 schedule guide and a parenting plan template cover the patterns families write down, and custody statistics set the Norwegian figures beside other countries.

Child support is mostly not a court matter. A parent who does not live with the child pays a fixed contribution towards its support and education; the parents may agree the amount, and if not, either can require NAV's support authority to decide it. Courts fix it only where a parent asks for it to be taken with a matrimonial or residence case, or the authority refers them there. Where the parents document in writing that they have agreed delt bustad, the regulation assumes they have the same daily costs, so what remains follows the gap between their incomes — and NAV states that as a general rule no contact deduction is applied on top.

Sources: [2], [5], [8], [12], [14], [15]

The Norwegian words on your paperwork

Norwegian	What it means
foreldreansvar	Parental responsibility: authority and duty over the child's personal affairs. Joint by default for married and unmarried parents, whatever the residence — not “custody”.
fast bosted	The child's permanent home, and the status of the parent it is with, who may decide essential everyday matters alone.
delt bosted (delt bustad in the Act)	Shared residence: the child lives permanently with both, so neither parent holds that decision power alone. No statutory time fraction attaches.
samvær	Contact — time with the parent the child does not live with. Vanleg samværsrett is a defined package, not an automatic entitlement.
mekling / meklingsattest	Mandatory mediation at a family counselling office and its certificate: one hour, valid six months, required before suing.
dagleg myndigheit	Daily authority — in the adopted 2025 Act only, not the law in force. Both parents would hold it where they lived together at the birth.

Each country names it differently; shared custody terms worldwide lines them up.

Sources: [2], [5], [6], [9], [13]

Recent changes to Norwegian custody law

• 27 September 2026 Commencement awaited — the new Act is not in force

  The 2025 Children Act still has no start date

  Checked again on this date: Lovdata records the new Children Act as “Ikke i kraft”, commencement left to the King and none decided. Nothing has changed for parents. When it commences, a court could order shared residence without the special-grounds hurdle, both parents would hold dagleg myndigheit, and contact would become a mutual right.

  Official source: Lovdata: lov 20. juni 2025 nr. 40 (status “Ikke i kraft”)

• 20 June 2025 Sanctioned — not yet in force

  A wholly new barnelova is sanctioned as lov 20. juni 2025 nr. 40

  Sanctioned in the Council of State, completing the legislative stage of a replacement Children Act built on the 2020 law-reform report. Sanction is not commencement, and none was decided.

  Official source: Lovdata: Council of State, 20 June 2025

• 16 June 2025 Adopted — second reading

  Lovvedtak 126 (2024–2025): the new Act is adopted

  Final parliamentary adoption, including § 7-1 on residence and delt bustad, § 7-2 on dagleg myndigheit, and § 8-1 making contact a right of the child and of the parent it does not live with.

  Official source: Stortinget: Lovvedtak 126 (2024–2025)

• 4 June 2025 Committee recommendation

  Innst. 526 L (2024–2025) explains the change to the residence test

  The committee set out the intended effect of dropping the special-grounds condition: the court is to assess residence concretely, on what is best for the child in the individual case. Removing a hurdle is not the same as creating a presumption.

  Official source: Stortinget: Innst. 526 L (2024–2025)

• 10 April 2025 Government bill submitted

  Prop. 117 L (2024–2025): the bill for a new Children Act

  The Ministry of Children and Families submitted its bill for a wholly new Children Act, referred to committee the same day.

  Official source: Stortinget: case 103106 (Prop. 117 L)

Frequently asked questions

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