Multiparentalidade e guarda: o princípio do melhor interesse da criança como critério na coexistência da filiação biológica e socioafetiva

Abstract

This study analyzes the legal concept of child custody within the context of multiparentality— understood as the legal coexistence of biological and socio-affective parent-child relationships. Following the 2016 Supreme Federal Court ruling on Extraordinary Appeal No. 898.060/SC, the principle was established that socio-affective parenthood does not preclude the simultaneous recognition of a biological bond, along with its associated legal effects. This scenario gives rise to the challenge of determining custody arrangements when multiple parental bonds are recognized concurrently—a task that falls to the Judiciary, guided by the principle of the best interests of the child and adolescent, as enshrined in Article 227 of the 1988 Federal Constitution and Article 3 of the Statute of the Child and Adolescent (ECA). This study aims to investigate how this principle guides judicial decisions regarding custody in multiparental families by examining specialized legal doctrine, current legislation, and the case law of higher courts. The methodology employed is qualitative, based on a review of literature and legal documents. The study concludes that the principle of the best interests of the child serves as the central and indispensable criterion for determining custody in cases of multiparentality, taking precedence over any hierarchy between biological and socio-affective bonds.