Parental rights and responsibilities in Cambodia?

[BOFH]

I am wondering what the legal rights and responsibilities are for parents in Cambodia. There are many stories about how men have left women and vice versa, and I'm curious as of what actually happens to children in these cases. If the parents are married perhaps this is settled as part of the divorce process. What happens if they are not married? I imagine there are some laws put in place for custody and financial support etc, can someone please shed some light on what they say?

Thanks to various NGOs and Loung Ung this topic has become unsearchable using any of the queries I can come up with. Asking for a friend by the way.

[phuketrichard]

hate to say this but for Thailand there is nothing, (especially if the parents are not married) would imagine same holds true for Cambodia.

I suppose if one had money and hired ( dare i say this without angering Vlad) a lawyer ,one could force the dad to a DNA test to establish parenthood an than take them to court and force them into paying support, but this would only hold if the parents were married.

were u referring to deadbeat locals or a Barang/bar girl relationship that results in a kid

What happens to the kid??, bad luck and usually ends up with the grandparents.
Look at the amount of half American kids after the Vietnam war.

[BOFH]

I suppose if one had money and hired ( dare i say this without angering Vlad) a lawyer ,one could force the dad to a DNA test to establish parenthood an than take them to court and force them into paying support, but this would only hold if the parents were married.

Do you know what happens in opposite cases, where the mother wants to leave the father who on the contrary is fully willing to be supportive and present? Rare case, I know, I imagine most people jump the border and simply don't tell anyone at that point.

One thing speaking in favor I guess is the massive face loss for a mother who leaves a father and ends up with an unsupported child.

were u referring to deadbeat locals or a Barang/bar girl relationship that results in a kid

Barang/bar girl relationships.

Calling it a spade, I am concerned that a child might be used by the mother to blackmail the father. "Give me $X every month to drink in Pontoon or you won't see your child!" sort of thing. I am interested in discovering the legal options in such cases and if it's even practically possible.

[vladimir]

iirc. Steve had this problem many years ago. Have to throw lots of money at it, or take the kid for an ice cream one day and don't come back. Ever.

[phuketrichard]

Do you know what happens in opposite cases, where the mother wants to leave the father who on the contrary is fully willing to be supportive and present? Rare case, I know, I imagine most people jump the border and simply don't tell anyone at that point.

Not as rare as u think as its my case, ex split without our daughter so I raised my daughter from the age of 7 on my own.
and know two other fathers that the mom split.

am concerned that a child might be used by the mother to blackmail the father. "Give me $X every month to drink in Pontoon or you won't see your child!" sort of thing. I am interested in discovering the legal options in such cases and if it's even practically possible.

the story I could tell u about what u wrote.

For me, went to court an got full legal custody

ps NEEDED a lawyer

[frank lee bent]

Good Man Richard.
From what I have seen- you did a fantastic job.

[BOFH]

iirc. Steve had this problem many years ago. Have to throw lots of money at it, or take the kid for an ice cream one day and don't come back. Ever.

That's what I thought. Do you mean Steve the professor, whose son's name begins with an H?

[John Bingham]

In Cambodian law a couple who has cohabited married or unmarried for 2 years are considered to be married, and the wife can demand maintenance from the husband if he leaves. In practice though it doesn't actually mean anything. I've known of so many men here who have left their wives and children in the lurch and hooked up with another woman, and nothing has come of it.

[kptic]

That isn't Cambodian law when a foreign man is involved. Do you really think a loophole that easy exists to circumvent the $2500/month, under 50 years old law that has thwarted so many couples?

[TheGrinchSR]

That isn't Cambodian law when a foreign man is involved. Do you really think a loophole that easy exists to circumvent the $2500/month, under 50 years old law that has thwarted so many couples?

In my experience it only thwarts idiots. A little bribery to get a certificate of no impediment elsewhere in the world and a marriage conducted in Thailand, Vietnam, or anywhere but Cambodia makes it legal. The fact that Cambodia draws more than its fair share of foreign idiots is another subject entirely...

To the OP's original question - I don't think family law here is particularly well-evolved but suspect that there's a pro-Khmer assumption built in; all the other SE Asian countries certainly do this.