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Codice Civile art. 337-quinquies — Revisione delle disposizioni

TL;DR. Italian Codice Civile article 337-quinquies is the revision-at-any-time provision. Parents have the right to request, at any time (in ogni tempo), revision of the provisions concerning: (i) custody of the children (affidamento), (ii) the attribution of the exercise of parental responsibility, and (iii) any provisions relating to the measure and modality of the maintenance contribution. The Cassazione has consistently held that revision requires a sopravvenuto mutamento (supervening change) of circumstances since the prior arrangement — including changes in the parents' economic situation, the child's needs, or relationally — that materially justifies the modification. In PA-context cases, sustained or worsening alienating conduct can constitute the supervening change that triggers a 337-quinquies revision in favour of the target parent.

Source: brocardi.it canonical — Italian state statute, public domain. · Fetched: 2026-06-14 · Editorial commentary licence: CC BY 4.0

Full statutory text — verbatim Italian

Art. 337-quinquies — Revisione delle disposizioni concernenti l'affidamento dei figli

I genitori hanno diritto di chiedere in ogni tempo la revisione delle disposizioni concernenti l'affidamento dei figli, l'attribuzione dell'esercizio della responsabilità genitoriale su di essi e delle eventuali disposizioni relative alla misura e alla modalità del contributo.

English translation (working — not an official translation)

Article 337-quinquies — Revision of provisions concerning custody of children

The parents have the right to request at any time the revision of the provisions concerning the custody of the children, the attribution of the exercise of parental responsibility over them, and any provisions relating to the measure and modality of the contribution.

Why article 337-quinquies matters for parental-alienation analysis

Article 337-quinquies provides the procedural revision-anchor for Italian custody and contribution arrangements. PA-context litigation is rarely a single-shot proceeding — alienating-pattern conduct typically develops, intensifies, or emerges after an initial arrangement is in place. Article 337-quinquies is the canonical statutory hook for returning to court to seek modification.

Sopravvenuto mutamento — supervening-change requirement

The Cassazione has consistently held that revision requires a supervening change (sopravvenuto mutamento) in circumstances since the prior arrangement. Recent authorities include:

  • Cass. civ. ord. n. 4221/2024 (15 February 2024): revision in peius of a maintenance contribution requires demonstration that the contribution is no longer proportionate to the obligor's means (because diminished), the recipient's means (because improved), or the child's needs (because changed).
  • Cass. civ. ord. n. 19388/2024 (15 July 2024): revision of contribution determined in an assisted-negotiation divorce agreement (per art. 6(3) D.L. 132/2014) is possible under art. 337-quinquies on the same presuppositions as judicial-determination revision — a supervening change in economic conditions of the parents materially affecting the prior patrimonial arrangement.
  • Cass. civ. ord. n. 32365/2024 (13 December 2024): revision of maintenance contribution determined in negotiated-agreement divorce is possible at art. 337-quinquies on supervening change in economic conditions of the parents materially varying the prior patrimonial arrangement.

The supervening-change requirement applies equally to revision of custody, parental-responsibility exercise, and contribution arrangements.

PA-context application

In PA-context litigation, sustained or worsening alienating conduct since the prior arrangement can constitute the supervening change. Specifically:

  • A previously-joint-custody arrangement may be revisited under art. 337-quinquies for transfer to exclusive custody (under art. 337-quater) where the alienating parent's conduct has become persistent and entrenched.
  • A previously-permitted contact schedule may be revised to introduce supervised handover or therapeutic intervention where the existing arrangement is being systematically obstructed.
  • A previously-set residence may be revisited where the residential parent has engaged in conduct undermining the other parent's relationship.

Importantly, article 337-quinquies does NOT require fresh substantive justification beyond the supervening-change threshold — once that threshold is met, the substantive analysis returns to the original framework of arts. 337-ter (joint custody default) and 337-quater (exclusive custody exception).

Cass. civ. ord. n. 3550/2023 — Article 8 ECHR linkage

The Cassazione has linked art. 337-quinquies revisions to Article 8 ECHR family-life jurisprudence: "judicial provisions that... rule on the modalities of visit and frequentation of minor children are appealable to the Court of Cassation only insofar as the refusal resolves into the denial of jurisdictional protection of a fundamental right — that of family life sanctioned by Art. 8 ECHR — which is impaired by those decisions that, adopted in the matter of frequentation and visit of the minor, prove to be so limitative and in contrast with the chosen type of custody as to violate the right to bigenitorialità, understood as the common presence of the parents in the life of the child, suitable to guarantee the child a stable life-habituation" (Cass. civ. ord. n. 3550/2023).

This linkage means that revision-denial decisions that defeat the bigenitorialità right are reviewable by the Cassazione under the Article 8 ECHR overlay — the structural protection against alienating-pattern-tolerant lower-court decisions.

Cross-references within the AntiAlienate Knowledge Base

Primary source

  • brocardi.it canonical: https://www.brocardi.it/codice-civile/libro-primo/titolo-ix/capo-ii/art337quinquies.html
  • Statute citation: Codice Civile italiano, art. 337-quinquies
  • Codification history: Article inserted by art. 55 of D.Lgs. 28 December 2013 n. 154 (reformulating art. 155-ter abrogated by the same decree).
  • Key Cassazione interpretation: Cass. civ. ord. n. 32365 del 13 dicembre 2024; n. 19388 del 15 luglio 2024; n. 4221 del 15 febbraio 2024; n. 3550 del 2023 (Article 8 ECHR linkage).
  • Status: Italian state statute — public-domain text.

Sources & authoritative references

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