Our place of residence is a matter of considerable importance, not only from the perspective of our daily lives, but also in terms of the applicable legal provisions. What are the legal aspects of this issue in the case of minor children?
What is a place of residence?
Matters relating to place of residence are regulated with considerable precision by the provisions of the Civil Code. Pursuant to Art. 25 of the Civil Code, a person’s place of residence is the locality in which that person resides with the intention of permanent stay. What does this mean in practice?
First, the place of residence is understood to be not a specific flat or house, but the locality as a whole. In practice, the precise address at which one resides is of course relevant, but the Civil Code adopts a broad meaning of the term.
Second, it concerns the locality in which one factually resides. This is the so-called corpus — that is, the material, physical aspect of one’s residence. As a general rule, one cannot claim to reside somewhere one never actually stays.
Third, what counts is one’s intention of permanent stay — the so-called animus. A temporary stay somewhere, by its very nature short-term (for example, during a holiday or a business trip), does not mean that the locality in which one is temporarily present constitutes one’s place of residence.
Pursuant to Art. 28 of the Civil Code, a person may have only one place of residence — this is significant both from the perspective of adults and of children.
What about children?
The legislature proceeds on the assumption that minor children (remaining under parental authority) will not, as a rule, independently decide where they reside or express an intention of permanent stay. As a result, pursuant to Art. 26 § 1 of the Civil Code, such children are, in a sense, “bound” to their parents. This provision establishes that the child’s place of residence is the place of residence of the parents, or, where applicable, of the parent who holds parental authority exclusively (where the other parent has been deprived of that authority or is deceased).
In the event of parental separation
Of course, a scenario arises — with increasing frequency — in which parental authority is vested in both parents, yet they do not reside together. In such a situation, pursuant to Art. 26 § 2 of the Civil Code, the child’s place of residence is the place of residence of the parent with whom the child permanently resides (the primary carer). Where no such parent exists — for example, in arrangements involving shared residence (opieka naprzemienna) with an equal 50:50 division of the child’s time — the intervention of the Court is required, and the Court will designate with which parent the child is to have their place of residence.
Crucially, such a ruling does not undermine the provisions concerning shared residence and does not affect agreed or court-ordered contact arrangements or parental authority. It is, rather, a resolution of matters of a technical and administrative nature.