What is the general rule as to custody of children below 7 years old?
Article 213 of the Family Code provides that “No child under seven years of age shall be separated from the mother, unless the court finds compelling reasons to order otherwise.”
The general rule that children under seven years of age shall not be separated from their mother finds its raison d’etre in the basic need of minor children for their mother’s loving care. In explaining the rationale, the Code Commission stressed thus:
The general rule that children under seven years of age shall not be separated from their mother finds its raison d’etre in the basic need of minor children for their mother’s loving care. In explaining the rationale, the Code Commission stressed thus:
The general rule is recommended in order to avoid many a tragedy where a mother has seen her baby torn away from her. No man can sound the deep sorrows of a mother who is deprived of her child of tender age. The exception allowed by the rule has to be for compelling reasons for the good of the child. (Gualberto vs Gualberto , G.R. No. 156254, June 28, 2005)