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  The Marriage Laws of Soviet Russia

The Russian Soviet Government Bureau

Complete text of first code of laws of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic dealing with Civil Status and Domestic Relations, Marriage, the Family and Guardianship.
 

TITLE III  FAMILY RIGHTS
 

CHAPTER   I

Descent

 

133. Actual descent shall be the basis of the family. No distinction shall be made between the relationship established through marriage and that established  by  union  outside  of  marriage.

 

Note I. Children descending from parents who are not married have equal rights with those descending from parents living in registered  marriage.

 

Note II. The provision of the present  section extends also to children born outside of marriage before the publication of the decree relating to civil marriage (December 20, 1917).

 

134. The persons registered as parents in the register of births are considered respectively as father  and  mother  of  the child.

 

135. In the absence of  an  entry  of  the parents of a child or in case  of  an  entry  which  is incor­rect or incomplete, the interested parties have the right to establish their paternity and maternity respectively  by court procedure.

 

Note. Cases relative to descent  are  under the  jurisdiction  of  the local court.

 

136. The right to  establish  the  actual  descent  lif a child is reserved to the interested parties, including the mother, even in cases when the persons registered as the parents of a child were, at the moment of its conception or birth, living in a registered  marriage  or  in one of  equal validity.

 

137. Should it  be  established by  examination in court that the entry  is  false  and  based upon false testimony of persons pretending to be parents, the parties guilty of false testimony are liable to prosecution  for a  criminal   offense  and  the  entry is declared to be  void.

 

138. The court, not later  than  three  days  after its decree takes effect, shall give notice of the judgment declaring an entry void and establishing the actual descent of a child to the Bureau of Vital Statistics where the birth is  registered,  and  the en­ try  is  to  be corrected accordingly.

 

139. Evidence of paternity, in case of the father disowning the child, is to be established according to the form  prescribed  in Sections 140-144.

 

140. An unmarried woman who becomes pregnant shall give notice not later than three months before the  birth  of  the  child  to  the  local  Bureau of Vital Statistics of her place of  residence, stating the time  of conception,  the  name  and  residence of  the father.

 

Note. A similar notice may be given by a married woman in case the conceived child does not descend from her registered  husband.

 

141. On the receipt of such a notice, the   Bureau of Vital  Statistics shall  inform  the person indicated as the father in the declaration (Section 140), and such person has the right  within  two  weeks  from the day of receipt of  this information  to  appeal  to the court to  set  aside  the statement  of  the  mother on ground of incorrectness. If the  appeal  is  not made within the term specified, the respective person  shall  be  considered  as  the father  of  the child.

 

142. Suits relating to the establishment of pa­ternity are tried in the ordinary course, but  the parties are bound to give  true  testimony,  otherwise  they  will  be  held  responsible  for  perjury.

 

143. Should it be established that the person designated in Section 141 has had such intercourse with the child's mother as to become, according  to the natural course of events, the father of the child, the court shall deem him to be the father and at the same time compel him to share in the expenses  connected with the gestation, delivery, and maintenance of  the child.

 

144. If the court establishes that the person mentioned in article 141 had intercourse with the child's mother at  the  time  of  conception  and  that at the same time the mother had intercourse with other persons, the court shall summon all  the latter  as defendants and impose upon them the obligation to share in the expenses as  provided in Section 143 .

 

CHAPTER  II

Personal  Rights  and  Duties  of  Children and Parents

 

145. Children   born   of   a   registered marriage shall  bear  the  matrimonial  surname  of  their parents. Children horn of parents not registered in marriage shall  hear  the  surname  of the  father  or of the mother or both surnames joined. The sur­names of such children shall he determined by agreement between the parents, or, failing this, by decision  of  the court.

 

146. In case a marriage is dissolved by divorce or declared void, the parents shall determine by a mutual agreement which of the three names men­tioned in Section 100 the children shall hear. In default of agreement between the parents, the sur­ name of the child shall he determined by the  judge on his own authority, and in case of dispute  be­tween  the parents,  by  the  local court.

 

147. If the parents are citizens of different coun­tries, the citizenship  of  the children (provided  one of the parents is of Russian citizenship) shall he determined by a pre-existing agreement made betweeen the parents and declared by them at the time of the recording of their marriage in the Bureau of Vital  Statistics.

 

Note. In default of an agreement on this matter between the  parents, the children shall be considered to he Russian citizens, provided that upon their attainment of full  age  they  shall have the right  to assume the  citizenship of  the foreign parent.

 

148. The parents shall be entitled to decide by agreement the religious beliefs to be professed by their  children  under  14  years  of  age. In  default  of such an agreement between the parents, children under the age of 14 years shall  he deemed  to pro­fess  no  religious  belief  at all.

 

Note. The agreement between parents men­tioned in this section, pertaining to the reli­gious professions of their children, shall be made in  writing.

 

149. The exercise of the right of parental au­thority over a male child shall terminate on the attainment  by  the child  of  18  years  of  age and over a female child on the attainment of 16  years of   age.

 

150. Parental authority shall be  exercised  by the  parents jointly.

 

151. All measures concerning the children shall be taken by the parents, when there is agreement be­ tween  them in  these matters.

 

152. In case of a disagreement between the par­ents, the matter in dispute shall be decided by the local  courts in  the presence  of  the  parents.

 

153. Parental authority shall be exercised ex­clusively for the benefit of the children, and in case of misuse the court may deprive the parents of the parental   rights.

 

Note. Suits  pertaining  to  the  deprivation of parental authority shall be within the jurisdiction of the local court and may be brought by representatives of the govern­ment  or  by private citizens.

 

154. Parents are responsible for the  care  of their minor children, their education and their
in­struction  in  useful activity.

 

155. Parents are responsible  for  the  protection of the personal interests and economic  rights  of their  children.    The  parents  shall  be  deemed both legal and general representatives of the children without a special appointment as guardians or trustees.

 

156. Parents are obliged to keep their children with them and have the right to claim their resti­tution from anyone who detains them without legal authority  or  without  an  order  of  the court.

 

157. Parents have the right to decide the man­ner of upbringing and instruction of their chil­dren, but the parents shall not contract for the em­ployment of any of their children between the ages of 16 and 18 without the child's consent.*
• Employment of children under 16 is prohibited by the labor  laws  of  Soviet  Russia.-(Ed. note.)

 

158. In case the parents live apart, they shall decide by agreement with which of them their minor children shall  live. In  default  of  such  agreement the  matter  shall  be  determined  by  the  local court.

 

159. In cases when the court has deprived the parents of their parental rights, the court shall per­ mit the parents to visit their  children  provided  that such visits shall not have a harmful and pre­ judicial effect upon the children.

 

CHAPTER   III

Property Rights and Obligations of Children and Parents

 

160. Children have no right to the property of their parents, nor parents to the property of their children.

 

161. Parents  shall  be  bound  to  provide   board and maintenance for their minor children and for children  who  are  indigent  and  unable  to work.

 

Note. The duties of  the parents mentioned in the present section shall he deemed sus­pended in-so-far as such children  are  cared  for and sustained by public or governmental institutions.

 

162. The duty of maintaining children shall he shared equally by both parents. The proportion  of the maintenance contributed by each parent shall he determined in accordance with their respective means. The sum  contributed  by each  parent  shall he not less than one-half of the minimum living allowance fixed  for a  child  in  the  given  locality. A  parent unable  to  contribute  the  whole  of his  or  her share  shall  provide  a  part  of  the same.

 

163. Children shall he hound to provide main­tenance for their parents who may he indigent and unable to work, provided the parents are not receiving the same from the government in pursuance of the law relating to measures  for  social  security  or the law of insurance against  sickness  and  old  age.

 

164. In case the parents refuse to provide main­tenance for their children, or the children are un­ willing to maintain their parents in accordance with the provisions of the foregoing sections 162 to 164, the persons entitled  to  maintenance  have the  right to claim the same  pursuant  to  the rules  prescribed in  foregoing  Sections 108  to 118.

 

165. The rights of children to receive mainten­ance  from  their  parents  and  the  rights  of  parents to receive the same  from  their children in the  cases mentioned in sections 161-168 remain even when the marriage of the parents is dissolved either by the death of one of them or by divorce or is declared void.

 

166. On the dissolution of their marriage by divorce the parents shall determine by mutual agreement their respective  responsibility  for and the amount each of them shall  contribute  towards the maintenance and upbringing of their  children. The court  shall  make  the  decision  in  this  matter a part of the decree of divorce. In case such agreement between  the parents is  not to the benefit of the children,  the  children  shall  have  the  right to claim from either of the parents  the  maintenance they are entitled  to  by   law.

 

167. In default of an agreement between the parents pertaining to the maintenance of their children, the matter shall be decided by the local court. Nevertheless it shall be the duty of the judge decreeing the divorce to decide  provisionally,  until  the final settlement of the matter by the local court, which of the parents and in what proportion  shall bear  the expenses  of the maintenance.

 

168. The local court deciding the  question  of the maintenance of the children shall take into consideration the  means  and  the  ability  to  work of both  parents.   Furthermore,   it  shall  consider, in case of a mother otherwise capable of work, her inability to work because of the necessity of caring for  her children  or  because of  pregnancy.

 

169. The deprivation of their parental rights does not  absolve the parents  from  the duty of contributing  towards the maintenance  of  their children.

 

170. On the death of both or either of the par­ents or on the death of the children, the respective maintenance for the parents or the children who are indigent and unable to work  shall  be  contributed out of the estate  of  the  deceased  in  pursuance  of the  rules  prescribed  by  Sections  122  to 128.

 

Note. The present section shall extend  to  the cases of persons declared to be dead or absent without  trace.

 

171. In the case provided for  in  Section  129, the parents and the children shall administer and dispose of the property left by the deceased equally with the other parties entitled  to  a  share  in  the said estate.

 

 

CHAPTER IV

Rights  and  Duties  of  Relatives

 

172. Persons in direct ascending or descending lines of affinity, consanguineous or half consanguineous brothers and sisters who may be indigent and unable to work have the right to obtain maintenance from  their  well-t o-do relatives.

 

Note. No distinction shall be  made  between the relationships established by legal marriage  and  those  by  unregistered union.

 

173. Relatives in the direct ascending and de­scending lines and  brothers and sisters in  their  relative order are  bound  to  provide  maintenance  only in such cases when the indigent persons  are  not  able to obtain the same from spouse, children, or parents  on account of  absence or  indigence.

 

174. In case such persons refuse to maintain  their relatives who are indigent and unable to work, the said relatives have the right to claim the main­tenance due to them in accordance with the pro­cedure  prescribed  in  Sections  108  to  118.

 

175. Persons bound to provide maintenance jointly shall bear the responsibility for it in equal proportions, unless the court, on taking due notice of the variance in  the means of  the said persons or the absence of one of them or on some other worthy consideration, shall decide that they shall participate in the provision of the maintenance in proportion  other  than  that  prescribed herein.

 

176. In case it shall  not  be  possible  to  obtain the maintenance from the persons bound to provide the same, the court shall have the right to  impose thie duty upon the relative next  bound  in  the order of affinity to provide the  said  maintenance. This next relative shall have the right to recover this charge from the party originally bound to  provide the maintenance.

 

177. The court may secure the provision of a maintenance by a charge upon the property of the person bound to provide the same; likewise  the court may secure guarantee for such provision pending the final judgment in the suit for main­tenance.

 

178. Any agreement tending to abrogate the right to maintenance shall be deemed void.

 

179. On the death of a relative or upon declaration by the court that a relative shall be deemed absent or dead, the persons described in Section 173 shall obtain their maintenance out  of  the  property left by the deceased in pursuance of the rules prescribed  in  Sections 122  to 128.

 

180. In case the property mentioned in the pre­vious section shall not be sufficient to provide maintenance for all persons entitled to the same, the maintenance shall preferably be given to the most indigent  of them.

 

181. In the case mentioned in Section 129, rela­tives equally with the spouse, the children and the parents of the deceased  shall have  a concurrent right  to  administer  and  dispose  of  the  said estate.

 

 

CHAPTER  V

Adoption

 

182. Adopted persons, step-children and their descendants, in their relationship towards their adopters, and the latter in relation with the former shall have rights similar to those enjoyed by relatives by blood.

 

183. The adoption of children, either related or unrelated to their adopters, shall not be permitted after the present law comes into force. No such adoption, made after the date indicated in this section, shall give rise to  any  duties  or  obligations for  the adopters or  the adopted.