Child custody and visitation rights in Peru

The law changed substantially in 2022: it’s no longer “agreement first, then the judge picks who the child lived with longer”

Many sources online — including legal guides that look up to date — still describe the version of the Code of Children and Adolescents that existed before October 2022. That version is no longer in force. Law N.º 31590, published on October 26, 2022, completely rewrote Articles 81, 82, 83, and 84 — exactly the ones that determine how custody is decided. This page describes the law currently in force.

Article 81 still gives priority to a direct agreement between parents, taking the child’s views into account, which can be formalized through out-of-court conciliation. What changed is what happens when there’s no agreement: the law now says, in explicit terms, that “the specialized judge must grant shared custody as the first option,” and can only “exceptionally” grant exclusive custody to one of the parents.

What “shared custody” means in practice

Article 84 — also rewritten by Law 31590 — sets out seven factors the judge must weigh when granting shared custody, not as a checklist of requirements but as the concrete content of what sharing parenting actually means:

1. The child must spend equal time with both parents.
2. Both parents have equal rights to decide on the child’s education, upbringing, and protection.
3. The distance between the parents’ homes does not restrict shared custody, though it’s taken into account when working out its specific form.
4. The child has the right to spend time with extended family, on both the mother’s and father’s sides.
5. The child’s and parents’ vacations are taken into account.
6. Important dates in the child’s life are taken into account.
7. The child’s age and opinion are taken into account.

Only when the judge does grant exclusive custody — the exception, not the rule — must a visitation regime be set for the parent who doesn’t get it. That visitation regime, and the rights that come with it, still work the way described below: they didn’t change with the 2022 reform.

What this reform eliminated: no more fixed rule by age

The previous version of Article 84 devoted an entire rule to the fact that “a child under three shall remain with the mother,” and another to the child staying with whichever parent “lived with them longer.” Neither rule exists today. The current text makes no mention of the child’s age as a factor for granting exclusive custody, nor does it favor either parent based on prior time lived together. The legal starting point, at any age, is shared custody.

How to file a judicial request

If there’s no agreement, Article 83 requires filing a claim along with the filer’s ID document, the child’s birth certificate, and relevant evidence. Within the process, you can request a precautionary measure for shared or exclusive custody, which the judge must resolve within a maximum of 30 calendar days from filing.

Visitation and the right to maintain contact

Article 88 recognizes the right to visit your children even without legal guardianship, with one condition: you must show with sufficient proof that you’re meeting the child-support obligation, or that you’re unable to. This right isn’t limited to parents — Article 90 allows the visitation regime to extend to relatives up to the fourth degree of consanguinity and second degree of affinity (grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins), and even to non-relatives, when the child’s best interest justifies it. And Article 85 still requires the judge to hear the child’s opinion and take the adolescent’s view into account throughout the process.

What happens if it isn’t followed, and how it’s changed later

Failing to comply with a judicially-set visitation regime carries consequences: it triggers legal enforcement measures, and if the resistance persists, it can lead to custody being changed (Article 91). The new Article 82 adds specific conduct-based criteria for changing an already-set shared or exclusive custody arrangement — for example, if the parent with custody systematically damages the child’s image of the other parent, or unjustifiably blocks the relationship with the other parent. Alongside that, the general rule in Article 86 still applies: generally, you must wait six months from the original ruling before requesting a change, except when the child’s safety is at risk.

What to do

If you’re negotiating custody, keep in mind that the legal starting point today is sharing it, not a judge assigning it to just one of you — prepare for a conversation about how to split time and decisions, not about who “wins.” If the case goes to court, the relevant evidence is no longer just who the child lived with longer, but the seven factors in Article 84: equal time, shared decisions, distance between homes, extended family, vacations, important dates, and the child’s opinion. If you’re researching this topic elsewhere, check the publication date — any explanation of “the judge’s three criteria” or the under-three rule is describing the law as it stood before October 2022.

Custody requires filiation to already be established

Before custody or visitation can be discussed, a legally recognized filiation link must exist. If the father hasn’t acknowledged the child, see the judicial process in establishing paternity in Peru outside marriage.

Can the other parent travel with the child without your permission?

Having custody doesn’t remove the need for travel authorization when the other parent also holds parental rights. See when travel permission is required and how to get it in travel permission for minors in Peru.

What if the other parent took your child out of the country?

When the move happens without your consent and crosses a border, the applicable mechanism is no longer just local custody but the Hague Convention. See what to do in international child abduction in Peru.