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BGB § 1666 — Gerichtliche Maßnahmen bei Gefährdung des Kindeswohls (verbatim)

Jurisdiction: Germany · Citation: Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch § 1666 · Authoritative source: gesetze-im-internet.de — § 1666 BGB

The operative welfare-jeopardy provision in German family law. § 1666 BGB is the principal statutory hook for court intervention where a child's welfare is at risk — including, in alienation-pattern cases, where sustained alienating conduct rises to the level of Kindeswohlgefährdung (welfare jeopardy). § 1666 is the threshold provision that, once crossed, opens the full spectrum of measures from supervised contact through to full removal of parental authority.

§ 1666 operates in conjunction with § 1684 (2) BGB Wohlverhaltensklausel (the affirmative cooperation duty) and § 1671 BGB Alleinsorge (sole-custody-on-application). Together these three provisions form the operative-remedy architecture of German PA litigation.

Verbatim text (current consolidated)

§ 1666 BGB — Gerichtliche Maßnahmen bei Gefährdung des Kindeswohls

(1) Wird das körperliche, geistige oder seelische Wohl des Kindes oder sein Vermögen gefährdet und sind die Eltern nicht gewillt oder nicht in der Lage, die Gefahr abzuwenden, so hat das Familiengericht die Maßnahmen zu treffen, die zur Abwendung der Gefahr erforderlich sind.

(2) In der Regel ist anzunehmen, dass das Vermögen des Kindes gefährdet ist, wenn der Inhaber der Vermögenssorge seine Unterhaltspflicht gegenüber dem Kind oder seine mit der Vermögenssorge verbundenen Pflichten verletzt oder Anordnungen des Gerichts, die sich auf die Vermögenssorge beziehen, nicht befolgt.

(3) Zu den gerichtlichen Maßnahmen nach Absatz 1 gehören insbesondere

  1. Gebote, öffentliche Hilfen wie zum Beispiel Leistungen der Kinder- und Jugendhilfe und der Gesundheitsfürsorge in Anspruch zu nehmen,
  2. Gebote, für die Einhaltung der Schulpflicht zu sorgen,
  3. Verbote, vorübergehend oder auf unbestimmte Zeit die Familienwohnung oder eine andere Wohnung zu nutzen, sich in einem bestimmten Umkreis der Wohnung aufzuhalten oder zu bestimmende andere Orte aufzusuchen, an denen sich das Kind regelmäßig aufhält,
  4. Verbote, Verbindung zum Kind aufzunehmen oder ein Zusammentreffen mit dem Kind herbeizuführen,
  5. die Ersetzung von Erklärungen des Inhabers der elterlichen Sorge,
  6. die teilweise oder vollständige Entziehung der elterlichen Sorge.

(4) In Angelegenheiten der Personensorge kann das Gericht auch Maßnahmen mit Wirkung gegen einen Dritten treffen.

English working translation

§ 1666 BGB — Court measures upon endangerment of the child's welfare

(1) Where the physical, mental, or emotional welfare of the child, or the child's property, is endangered, and the parents are not willing or not able to avert the danger, the family court must take the measures necessary to avert the danger.

(2) As a rule, the child's property is to be presumed endangered where the holder of the property care has breached his or her support obligation to the child or the duties associated with the property care, or has not complied with court orders relating to the property care.

(3) The court measures under paragraph 1 include, in particular,

  1. directives to make use of public assistance such as services of child and youth welfare and health care,
  2. directives to ensure compliance with the duty to attend school,
  3. prohibitions on using, temporarily or for an indefinite period, the family residence or another residence, on being present within a defined radius of the residence, or on visiting other designated places where the child regularly is present,
  4. prohibitions on making contact with the child or on causing an encounter with the child,
  5. the substitution of declarations of the holder of parental responsibility,
  6. partial or complete removal of parental authority.

(4) In matters of personal care, the court may also take measures with effect against a third party.

Why this matters for PA

  • § 1666 is the threshold provision. Below the Kindeswohlgefährdung threshold, the cooperation-duty framework under § 1684 (2) BGB (Wohlverhaltensklausel) and the sole-custody-on-application framework under § 1671 BGB apply. Above the Kindeswohlgefährdung threshold, § 1666 BGB engages and the full enumerated spectrum of measures becomes available. This is the central doctrinal escalation point in German PA litigation.
  • § 1666 (3) enumeration is exemplary, not exhaustive. Insbesondere — "in particular" — signals that the six enumerated measures are illustrative; the court has wide discretion to fashion a remedy proportionate to the conduct. This flexibility is a defining feature of the German welfare-jeopardy framework: the court can craft graduated responses from supervised contact (effectively under § 1666 (3) no. 1) through residence restrictions (no. 3) through contact prohibitions (no. 4) through partial or complete removal of parental authority (no. 6).
  • § 1666 (3) no. 4 — the contact-prohibition tool. Verbote, Verbindung zum Kind aufzunehmen oder ein Zusammentreffen mit dem Kind herbeizuführen. The court can prohibit a parent from making contact with the child or from causing an encounter. In sustained alienating-conduct cases this can be applied to the alienating parent — a structural inversion of the typical PA-litigation framing where the targeted parent is contact-restricted.
  • § 1666 (3) no. 6 — partial or complete removal of parental authority. This is the apex-tier remedy: die teilweise oder vollständige Entziehung der elterlichen Sorge. In the most severe sustained-PA cases the German courts have applied this — the Bundesgerichtshof's BGH XII ZB 565/2018 is the leading authority. Note the parallel to the Italian art. 330 CC decadenza and the Austrian § 181 ABGB Entzug der Obsorge.
  • § 1666 (4) — third-party measures. In Angelegenheiten der Personensorge kann das Gericht auch Maßnahmen mit Wirkung gegen einen Dritten treffen. The court can direct measures against third parties — typically grandparents, extended family, or new partners who are participating in the alienating dynamic. This is a doctrinal feature distinctive to the German framework.

Procedural application

  • The competent court is the Familiengericht (family court), sitting under the FamFG procedural code.
  • The Jugendamt (youth welfare authority) is statutorily integrated into the procedure — it is the principal welfare-assessment agency.
  • The Verfahrensbeistand (guardian ad litem under § 158 FamFG) represents the child's interests in proceedings affecting parental responsibility.
  • Sachverständigengutachten (court-appointed psychological expert assessment) is the principal evidential pathway for Kindeswohlgefährdung findings — see the Mindestanforderungen methodology standards discussed in the expert evidence comparative.

Use in alienating-conduct cases

The Bundesgerichtshof has applied § 1666 BGB to sustained alienating-conduct cases:

  • BGH XII ZB 565/2018 — leading authority on welfare-jeopardy as a threshold for parental-authority removal in sustained alienation cases
  • The Oberlandesgerichte (OLGs) have applied § 1666 (3) measures across the spectrum: directives to engage with court-counselling (no. 1), contact-pattern modifications (no. 4), and in the most severe cases partial-or-full removal of authority (no. 6)
  • The German Mindestanforderungen methodology requires the welfare-jeopardy finding to be supported by direct observation and methodologically rigorous assessment — not on the basis of party-instructed expert opinion alone

Cross-reference

Sources & authoritative references

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