Abstract

The article investigates the problem of shared parenting as a newly introduced concept into the Bulgarian legal system, its challenges and some of questions about ways of its establishment. At the outset, it overviews the legal framework of the Bulgarian Family Code focusing on the Art. 59, Para. 1 as a legal basis for the joint custody and the role of the court in its establishment. Then, it investigates the applicable legal framework and the different methodologies about the “shared parenting” adopted by some foreign jurisdictions. In the end, а brief synthesis is offered to suggest that co-parenting in Bulgaria is a valid way of exercising parental rights whose adoption could be helped through implementing conceivably the mediation as a conflict resolution tool. Yet, it is the assertion of the author that more efforts need to be exerted for creating an instrument that de facto would educate and stimulate the parties to refer a mediator in view of possible achieving “shared parenting” as a solution of their parental conflicts.