Frequently asked family law questions in Honduras
Domestic partnership, acknowledging children, parental authority and maintenance — answered with the article of the Código de Familia that settles them. Divorce has its own page at divorce.
Marriage and domestic partnership
Who can perform a marriage in Honduras?
A marriage must be authorised by the Municipal Mayor of the couple’s domicile, or of either of them at their choice, under Article 23. The Law recognises both civil marriage and unión de hecho (domestic partnership) as ways of forming a family (Article 4).
Legal basis: Article 23, Article 4 of the Código de Familia.
What is a unión de hecho, and why register it?
It is the cohabitation the Law recognises alongside civil marriage (Article 4). Registering it is not decorative: Article 55 lists the effects produced by a unión de hecho registered by the Civil Registrar, and Article 57 provides that a man and woman whose union is legally recorded inherit from each other in the same cases as spouses. Without registration, inheritance between partners is where most people lose out.
Legal basis: Article 4, Article 55, Article 57 of the Código de Familia.
Can I formalise a unión de hecho if my partner has already died?
Yes. Article 51 allows recognition of the unión de hecho to be applied for by one party alone, whether because there is opposition or because the other has died. It is the route to establishing inheritance rights where the couple never registered the union during their lifetime.
Legal basis: Article 51 of the Código de Familia.
Children
What do I do if my child’s father refuses to acknowledge him?
Acknowledgment can be declared judicially. By acknowledgment or a declaration of paternity, the child legally enters the family of their parents for all purposes (Article 101) — surnames, maintenance and inheritance rights included. The father’s refusal does not prevent acknowledgment; it moves it to the court.
Legal basis: Article 101 of the Código de Familia.
Parental authority
What is patria potestad (parental authority)?
It is the set of rights and duties parents have in respect of the person and property of their children (Article 185). It includes, among others, legally representing the minor, exercising their custody and care, and maintaining them (Article 186). It is not ownership of the child: it is an office with obligations.
Legal basis: Article 185, Article 186 of the Código de Familia.
What is the difference between losing parental authority and having it suspended?
Suspension is temporary and ends when the cause disappears; loss is the more serious sanction. What does not change in either case is the duty to pay maintenance: Article 202 says deprivation or suspension does not relieve parents of providing maintenance, and Article 207-G repeats it for the sanction of suspension or loss. Losing parental authority frees nobody from paying.
Legal basis: Article 202, Article 207-G of the Código de Familia.
Who can ask for a parent’s parental authority to be removed?
Not just anyone. Article 204 reserves the action for loss or suspension of parental authority to the minor’s ascendants and their collateral relatives within the degree the article itself specifies.
Legal basis: Article 204 of the Código de Familia.
Maintenance
What costs does maintenance cover?
Far more than food. Article 207-A defines maintenance as everything indispensable to a person’s full development: sustenance, housing, clothing and the rest the article lists. And Article 207-B adds something almost nobody claims: maintenance covers the costs of pregnancy, birth and its immediate consequences for the mother.
Legal basis: Article 207-A, Article 207-B of the Código de Familia.
Who is obliged to pay maintenance?
Article 211 lists to whom maintenance is owed, starting with the spouse, blood descendants and a pregnant woman in respect of the unborn child. The obligation does not depend on the parents having been married or living together.
Legal basis: Article 211 of the Código de Familia.
Is a child born of rape entitled to maintenance?
Yes. Article 214 says so expressly: maintenance is owed to a child born as a consequence of the offence of rape or statutory rape, provided the time of conception coincides with that of the act.
Legal basis: Article 214 of the Código de Familia.
Divorce
What are the grounds for divorce, and how long do I have to petition?
Article 238 lists eight grounds, and Article 240 imposes the limit that costs the most rights: the action cannot be brought after one (1) year counted from when the fact became known. The two routes — mutual consent and contested — who may petition, and how the settlement agreement works are set out in divorce.
Legal basis: Article 238, Article 240 of the Código de Familia.
Source
Código de Familia (Decreto No. 76-1984) — articles 4, 23, 51, 55, 57, 101, 185, 186, 202, 204, 207-A, 207-B, 207-G, 211, 214, 238 and 240. The questions come from the public enquiry bank of the Consultorio Jurídico Gratuito de la UNAH; the answers are our own and cite the applicable article. The UNAH enquiries about DINAF internal procedure and the CPAI centres are not answered here because the Código de Familia does not govern them.