Problemática Jurídica de la Inexistencia de la tenencia compartida en la legislación ecuatoriana

Abstract

This research aims at analyzing the legal problem of the non-existence of shared custody in Ecuadorian legislation, when parents separate through a divorce, due to the termination of the common-law relationship, and in the cases of children born out of wedlock. The study includes, in the first place, the presentation of a conceptual, legal, and doctrinal framework on marriage, common-law unions, children out of wedlock, and joint custody in Ecuador. Secondly, an analysis of joint custody in the legislations of Spain, France, the United States, and Italy is made. Finally, the establishment of custody is analyzed in all the cases of divorce, termination of the common-law union, and custody, initiated during the year two thousand nineteen and conducted in the Multicompetent Civil Judicial Unit with headquarters in the canton of Zamora, Province of Zamora Chinchipe. The results of the research determine that shared custody strengthens the affective bonds of children with both parents and positively influences their emotional and psychological state and their integral development, while exclusive custody with only one of the parents seriously limits the participation of the other parent in the upbringing and can be used as a pretext to deny the visiting parent access to his or her children.