When parents separate, the hardest questions are rarely about property — they are about the children. Where will they live? How often will each parent see them? Who pays for what, and how much? Belarusian law gives parents a way to answer these questions themselves, in writing, without leaving everything to a judge: the Agreement on Children. It is a practical, legally binding tool that lets a mother and father set the rules for their children’s upbringing on their own terms, provided those terms genuinely serve the child. This article explains what the Agreement on Children is, when parents can use it, and — most importantly — what they can and cannot write into it.
What Is an Agreement on Children?
An Agreement on Children is a contract between the two parents that settles the key questions about their minor children. It is governed by the Marriage and Family Code, which sets out both what the agreement may cover and the formalities that make it valid.
The purpose of the agreement is to secure the rights and legitimate interests of the children. Rather than argue in court over custody and support, parents can record their arrangements in a single document that carries legal force. Crucially, the agreement is available to any parents — a married couple, a divorcing couple, or parents who were never married at all — as long as parentage has been formally established. What matters is not the parents’ marital status but the child’s welfare.
There is one important limit on availability. Parents can conclude an Agreement on Children only if these matters have not already been resolved by a court judgment that has entered into legal force, and are not already regulated by a Marriage Contract or an Alimony Payment Agreement. In other words, the Agreement on Children fills the space that a court order or another family contract has not already occupied.
Why Make an Agreement on Children?
For many separating parents, the instinctive route is court. Yet an Agreement on Children is usually faster, calmer and cheaper — and it leaves the outcome in the parents’ hands rather than a judge’s. Its main advantages are:
- Control. Parents design arrangements around their real lives — work patterns, school runs, and where each of them lives — instead of accepting a one-size-fits-all court order.
- Speed and cost. A negotiated, notarised document avoids months of litigation and the expense that comes with it.
- Less conflict. Reaching agreement is far less adversarial than a courtroom fight, which helps preserve the co-parenting relationship the children still depend on.
- Certainty for the child. A clear, written set of rules removes the recurring arguments over pick-ups, holidays and money that unsettle children most.
- Enforceability. Because the agreement is notarised, it is not merely a good-faith promise; it can be enforced if one parent fails to keep to it.
None of this makes the agreement a soft option. It is a binding legal document, and the same features that give it force also make careful drafting essential.
When Can Parents Enter Into an Agreement on Children?
There is no single “right moment” to make an Agreement on Children. Parents can sign one during their marriage, in the middle of a divorce, or long after they have separated. Many couples turn to it precisely when a relationship ends and they want to avoid a contested court battle over the children.
This is where the agreement shows its real value. If parents cannot agree, a court will decide the disputed questions for them — including the child’s residence, the contact schedule and the amount of alimony. Deciding these matters privately, in advance, lets parents keep control of the outcome and spares the child the stress of litigation. If you are weighing your options, our overview of who a child lives with after divorce explains how a court approaches the same questions when the parents cannot settle them themselves.
The divorce process itself often creates the right window. When a divorce claim is filed, the court gives the spouses a period — as a rule three months — to reconcile and to reach agreement about the children and the division of property, and it points them towards mediation as a voluntary way to settle matters. Parents can use exactly this time to negotiate an Agreement on Children and hand the court a ready-made solution instead of asking a judge to impose one.
An Agreement on Children is especially useful for families with a cross-border element — for example, where one parent is a foreign national or lives abroad. Settling residence, contact and travel in advance removes much of the uncertainty that otherwise surrounds international families.
What Can Be Included in an Agreement on Children
The Code sets out the main subjects an Agreement on Children may cover, and then adds a broad category of “other questions” of upbringing and maintenance. In practice, a well-drafted agreement can address everything below.
Where the Child Will Live
The agreement can fix which parent the children will live with. This is often the single most important clause, because it determines the child’s day-to-day home and shapes every other arrangement. Parents are free to agree that all the children live with one parent, or that different children live with different parents, or any other workable arrangement — so long as it reflects the children’s best interests.
If the parents cannot reach agreement on this point, the question is decided by a court, which looks at each parent’s involvement, the child’s age and attachments, the living conditions each parent can offer, and, for a child aged ten or older, the child’s own opinion. Because a dispute over the child’s residence is one of the most sensitive in family law, many parents prefer to resolve it by agreement; our page on the child’s place of residence sets out how these cases are handled.
Contact and the Other Parent’s Role in Upbringing
The parent who does not live with the child keeps the right to see the child and the duty to take part in raising them. The parent the child lives with cannot lawfully obstruct that contact. An Agreement on Children can turn these general principles into a concrete schedule: which days and hours the child spends with each parent, arrangements for holidays and birthdays, video calls, and how the parents will consult each other on important decisions. A clear contact clause prevents most of the friction that arises when arrangements are left vague. The agreement is signed by the parents, but it also helps the wider family: grandparents, brothers and sisters have their own right to stay in touch with a child under Belarusian law, and a sensible schedule makes those relationships easier to maintain in day-to-day life.
Child Maintenance (Alimony)
The agreement can set the amount of alimony (child support), together with the method and timing of payment. Parents can choose a percentage of income, a fixed periodic sum, a one-off lump sum, or even the transfer of property to the child in place of future payments — or a combination of these.
It helps to know the statutory benchmark. When alimony is set by a court, it is calculated as a share of the paying parent’s income: 25% for one child, 33% for two children, and 50% for three or more. Parents remain free to agree on their own figure, but there is a floor, which we cover in the next section. For a full breakdown of the rates, minimums and indexation rules, see our guide to how alimony is calculated.
Taking the Child Abroad
The agreement can also set out the procedure for the children’s departure from Belarus — when and how a child may travel abroad, and how the parents will handle consent. For international families this clause is invaluable: it prevents disputes before they arise and gives both parents certainty about holidays, visits to relatives and relocation.
Cross-border travel with children is a sensitive area worldwide, and Belarus is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the civil aspects of international child abduction. A well-drafted travel clause, agreed and notarised in advance, is one of the best ways to keep a family’s international arrangements clear and lawful.
Other Questions of Upbringing and Property
Beyond these core topics, parents can address other matters of upbringing and maintenance. Common examples include how decisions on education and choice of school are made, the child’s religious upbringing, extracurricular activities and sport, the approach to medical treatment, and how holidays and free time are organised. Parents can even set out in advance how they will handle future disagreements — for instance, by turning to a mediator before going to court. The agreement can also provide for real estate to be transferred into a child’s ownership, which triggers an extra registration step covered below. The only boundary is that any clause must serve the child and stay within the law.
What an Agreement on Children Cannot Do
The freedom to shape the agreement is wide, but it is not unlimited. Every clause must respect three constraints: it must not violate the rights and legitimate interests of the children, it must not harm the rights of other people, and it must not contradict legislation. An agreement that fails these tests can be challenged.
The clearest example is alimony. Parents may agree on the amount, but it cannot be set lower than what a court would award under the statutory rules. Because the minimum for a parent without steady earnings is tied to the subsistence minimum budget, which the authorities revise each quarter, the figure has to be checked at the time of signing. An agreement that shortchanges the child on support can be set aside by a court.
More broadly, a court can declare an Agreement on Children invalid, in whole or in part, where it breaches the child’s interests or the law. Parents cannot use the agreement to bargain away a child’s fundamental rights, and they cannot override protections that the Code puts in place for the child’s benefit.
Agreement on Children, Marriage Contract or Alimony Agreement?
Belarusian law offers several instruments that can touch on children, and it is easy to confuse them. Choosing the right one — or the right combination — matters, because they cannot all cover the same ground at once.
A marriage contract is concluded by spouses (or people about to marry) and deals mainly with property, but it can also address the upbringing of children and the amount and method of alimony. An Alimony Payment Agreement is a dedicated document for child support alone. The Agreement on Children is the broadest of the child-focused options: it can combine residence, contact, alimony, travel and other upbringing questions in one place.
The key rule is that these documents do not overlap. An Alimony Payment Agreement cannot be signed if alimony is already settled in a Marriage Contract, an Agreement on Children or a court judgment. Likewise, an Agreement on Children cannot re-open questions a court has already decided. Working out which instrument fits your situation is exactly the kind of question worth raising with an advocate before you sign anything.
Form, Notarisation and Registration
An Agreement on Children is not a private note between parents — the law imposes strict formalities. The agreement must be made in writing and must be notarised. Notarisation is not optional: without it, the agreement simply has no legal effect. The notary checks that the parents understand what they are signing and that the terms comply with the law.
There is one further step in a specific case. If the agreement provides for real estate to be transferred into the child’s ownership, that part of the agreement must also be registered with the state body responsible for registering rights to immovable property. The real-estate clause then takes effect from the moment of registration and serves as the basis for transferring ownership to the child.
In practice, the process runs in a few clear stages. The parents first agree the terms between themselves, ideally with legal advice so that nothing important is missed and every clause is enforceable. An advocate then drafts the agreement in proper legal form. Both parents sign it before a notary, who verifies their identities, confirms they are acting freely and checks the terms against the law. If the agreement transfers immovable property to the child, the relevant clause is registered afterwards. Each parent keeps an original, and a copy usually goes to anyone who has to act on it — an employer withholding alimony, for example.
Getting the form right is essential. A carefully drafted, properly notarised agreement protects both parents and the child; a defective one can unravel at the worst possible moment.
Changing, Terminating and Enforcing the Agreement
Life changes, and so can the agreement. While it is in force, the parents can amend or cancel it by mutual consent, using the same written and notarised form in which it was made. If only one parent wants a change, they can apply to a court, which can modify or terminate the agreement on the grounds set out in civil law — typically a significant change in circumstances.
Enforcement is where the Agreement on Children proves its worth. Because the agreement is notarised, it can be enforced through the bailiff service if a parent breaks it, in much the same way as a court decision — without the need to start fresh litigation. A parent who stops paying agreed alimony, for example, can face enforcement measures on the strength of the agreement alone. This combination of flexibility and enforceability is what makes the instrument so useful in practice.
Agreements on Children for International Families
Cross-border families face an extra layer of complexity, and this is where an Agreement on Children can be especially valuable — but also where it needs the most care.
Where one parent is a foreign national or lives outside Belarus, the travel clause carries real weight. Agreeing in advance when and how the child may leave the country, and how each parent gives consent, heads off the disputes that most often escalate into cross-border conflict. It also sits alongside Belarus’s obligations under the 1980 Hague Convention, which is designed to secure the prompt return of children wrongfully taken across borders.
Two practical points deserve attention. First, whether an agreement made in Belarus will be recognised and enforced in another country depends on that country’s own law and on any treaties in force between the two states — it cannot simply be assumed. Second, to be used abroad the document will usually need a certified translation and legalisation, by apostille or consular legalisation depending on the destination. Building these requirements in from the start saves considerable time later, and coordinating the Belarusian agreement with any arrangements abroad is a job for advisers who handle such cases regularly.
FAQ
No. Married parents, divorcing parents and parents who were never married can all conclude an Agreement on Children, provided parentage is legally established. The only bar is that the questions must not already be settled by a court judgment, a Marriage Contract or an Alimony Payment Agreement.
Yes. Written form and notarisation are mandatory, and an agreement that is not notarised has no legal force. If the agreement transfers real estate to the child, that part must additionally be registered with the immovable-property registration body.
You are free to choose the amount, method and timing of payment, but the amount cannot fall below the statutory minimum a court would award. An agreement that provides less than the legal minimum can be challenged and set aside.
Because the agreement is notarised, it can be enforced through the bailiff service like a court decision, so the other parent does not have to sue from scratch. Either parent can also ask a court to change or terminate the agreement if circumstances have changed.
It can fix the child’s place of residence and the other parent’s contact, and those terms are binding. However, a court can later change the arrangement on one parent’s application if the child’s interests require it — the child’s welfare always comes first.
An Agreement on Children concerns minor children. Support for an adult child — for example, a disabled adult child who needs help — is governed by separate rules and is handled through other instruments rather than this agreement.
Yes. Parents do not have to live in the same place to sign one. The practical questions are how each parent will sign before a notary and whether the agreement will also need to be recognised or legalised for use abroad — both worth planning with an advocate in advance.
Conclusion
The Agreement on Children is one of the most useful tools Belarusian family law offers separating parents. It lets a mother and father settle residence, contact, alimony, travel and other questions of upbringing in a single, enforceable document — and keep those decisions in their own hands rather than a courtroom. Its strength lies in the detail: the clauses must fit the family, respect the child’s interests and satisfy the Code’s formal requirements, or the agreement can be challenged. That is why it pays to have it drafted properly the first time. If you are considering an Agreement on Children, our family law advocates can prepare a document that protects your children and holds up when it matters.