The mother died, the father was disposed of - is that okay?
In an emotional case, the Federal Court has now confirmed a decision by KESB Solothurn. The now 16-year-old daughter is allowed to continue living with her stepfather along with her older sister. The biological father fought against this and wanted his daughter to live with him. But she didn't want that.
The judgment of the KESB and the Federal Court seems strange at first glance. It is tempting to think that the biological father has priority. In this case, however, both daughters clearly do not want to go to their father. The older one is already an adult and can therefore make her own decisions. The younger one, on the other hand, does not want to be separated from her sister, but she is still subject to parental custody, which is why the KESB had to decide.
Clearly something went wrong in the past. Unfortunately we don't find out anything about it. There are theoretically two possible stories. Either this is a classic case of alienation, where the children reject their father because their mother talked them into it. Or, there are actually reasons why both daughters reject their father. We do not know it.
In both cases, the KESB's decision is harsh and difficult to digest, but is probably still correct. The center of the children's lives is with their stepfather. The children want to live there and there seems to be nothing wrong with that.
As hard as it is, in this case the will of the children must be taken into account.
The father should be advised to re-establish contact with his daughters as much as possible so that they can become a family again in the future, even without living together.
And in the event that it is a case of alienation, the KESB would be advised to intervene earlier and more precisely in the future. Unfortunately, we are aware of a number of such cases, especially at KESB Solothurn, where the authority does not cut a good figure.