Rwanda: adoption, child custody, inheritance and IVF

Adoption

Law nº 71/2024 offers simple adoption, which keeps the child's family of origin, and full adoption, which severs it and is reserved for children whose parents are unknown or have abandoned them, total orphans with no relatives to the seventh degree and wards of the State; the adopter must be at least 21 and seven years older than the child, and Rwanda has been party to the Hague Adoption Convention since 1 July 2012.

Full detail: Adoption

Assisted reproduction

Since 18 September 2025 Law n° 026/2025 has allowed assisted reproduction, including surrogacy under a notarial contract, for spouses or anyone diagnosed as unable to reproduce naturally, in licensed facilities only; selling gametes, embryos or surrogacy services is banned, and providers face up to 25 years' imprisonment for the gravest breaches (arts 23 to 31 and 96 to 105).

Full detail: Assisted reproduction

Childcare

Chapter XVI of Law nº 71/2024 (arts 343 to 352) governs parental authority, arts 253, 254 and 268 to 272 govern the children's position during and after a divorce, and Law N° 71/2018 on the protection of the child covers removing a child from the family and placing him or her with another family or an institution. A person is a child until the age of majority, 18 (art 104), and a child of 16 may be emancipated on a registrar's decision for justifiable grounds (arts 105 and 106).

Parental authority over a child born in wedlock belongs to the father and the mother; if they disagree, one refers the matter to the family council, and a party who is unsatisfied may go to court; if one parent dies, disappears, is absent, incapacitated or deprived of authority, the other exercises it, and a guardian or custodian does so if both fall away (art 343). For a child born out of wedlock both parents exercise it, and if one is unknown or does not recognise the child, the parent in charge of custody does (art 344). Parents must cater for and educate the child (art 345); the child's domicile follows that of the persons with parental authority (art 55) and he or she may not set up a separate residence without their consent except where the law provides (art 346). Parents administer the child's property and need both parents' consent to transfer, sell or mortgage it in the child's interest (art 347), and after a divorce the revenues of the child's property go to the parent who has custody (art 350). A court may deprive a person of parental authority, temporarily or permanently, for abuse or ill-treatment of the child or notorious misconduct, and the deprived parent may apply to be reinstated once the grounds disappear (art 352).

During divorce proceedings the judge may take provisional measures on the parties, their children and their property (art 253), may grant provisional custody to either spouse or to a third party in the children's best interest and fixes each spouse's contribution to their maintenance (art 254). At judgment, custody goes to the spouse who obtains the divorce and the other may visit the children, talk to them and be visited by them, the judge setting the modalities; the court may, on its own motion or on request, entrust the children to the losing spouse or to a third person after hearing the child, may order shared custody between both spouses, and these measures are provisional and may be revoked on a unilateral claim by an interested person (art 269). Divorced parents keep the right to supervise the children's maintenance and education whoever has them, and must contribute to alimony in proportion to their means (art 270); divorce does not deprive children of benefits the law or their parents' matrimonial regime gives them (art 271), and a parent who still owes alimony cannot dispose of all his or her property (art 272).

For parents who never married, filiation is proven by a recognition made orally or in writing before the civil registrar, an agreed DNA test, a court-ordered DNA test or a judgment declaring filiation (art 48). A child, or a parent or children's rights organisation acting for a minor, may sue to establish paternity or maternity, and the claim never lapses (arts 305 and 308); it is admissible where, for example, the child was born between 180 and 300 days after the mother's kidnapping, unlawful detention or rape, the mother cohabited with the presumed father, the child has the status of a legitimate child, or DNA or other scientific evidence confirms it (art 306). A recognised child, or one whose filiation a court establishes, has the rights and duties of a child born in wedlock, but only towards the parent concerned (arts 293 and 309), and children whose filiation is established have equal rights whatever the circumstances of their birth (art 280). Several children suing the same parent pay one court fee deposit (art 305(3)).

Law N° 71/2018 forbids separating a child from the family arbitrarily and lists the grounds for placing a child with a third party: domestic violence, mistreatment, parents unable to educate a child because of mental disability, or loss of parental authority (art 11). Family members and others who know of violence or mistreatment must report it to the competent authority, the nearest administrative organ or the nearest unit of the Rwanda National Police (art 12). The national child organ asks the court for permission to remove a child provisionally, and where waiting would be dangerous it arranges a residence first and files with the court within seven working days (art 13). The child has the right to attend those proceedings and to give an opinion, and a placed child keeps contact with parents and relatives unless that conflicts with his or her best interest (arts 14 and 15); placement is with a foster family or, when none is yet found, a social welfare institution, without ending the duty to look for a foster family (arts 16 and 17). A parent or guardian who neglects legal obligations without reasonable cause and seriously jeopardises the child's health, security or living conditions commits an offence, punished on a first offence by community service of up to one month and on repetition by two to six months and a fine of FRW 500,000 to 1,000,000 (art 32); abandoning a child in a non-solitary place carries three to five years and FRW 50,000 to 100,000 (art 36).

Key points

In practice

• In a divorce, ask the judge at the start for provisional custody and for the amount each spouse must contribute to the children's maintenance (arts 253 and 254), and say whether you want sole or shared custody in the judgment (art 269(3)).
• Ask that the judgment spell out the other parent's visiting arrangements, since art 269(1) leaves the modalities to the judge, and diarise that the custody measures are provisional and may be revoked on a unilateral claim by an interested person (art 269(4)).
• If you were not married to the other parent, have the filiation established: recognition before the civil registrar (art 288), a DNA test by agreement or by court order (art 48) or a claim on one of the grounds in art 306; the claim can be brought at any time (art 308).
• If a child is being abused or neglected, report it to the competent authority, the nearest administrative organ or the Rwanda National Police (Law N° 71/2018, art 12); the national child organ then seeks the court's permission to place the child.

Cost and coverage

The sources opened give no court-fee schedule and no maintenance scale; art 305(3) of Law nº 71/2024 only says that several children suing the same father or mother pay one deposit of court fees.

Where to go

• The competent court, which grants provisional and final custody in a divorce and rules on disputes over parental authority (arts 254, 269 and 343(2)).
• The family council, which is the first stage for disagreements between parents (arts 154 and 343(2)); a ministerial order determines its members.
• The civil registrar, before whom a child is recognised and who keeps the birth records (arts 60 and 288).
• The Rwanda National Police and the nearest administrative organ, to which abuse or neglect of a child must be reported (Law N° 71/2018, art 12).

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Law nº 71/2024 of 26/06/2024 governing persons and family, Official Gazette Special of 30/07/2024 (trilingual gazette, English column; Ministry of Justice copy) — arts 48, 55, 104 to 107, 154, 252 to 254, 268 to 272, 280, 288, 293, 305 to 309, 343 to 352 and 401
• Law N° 71/2018 of 31/08/2018 relating to the protection of the child, Official Gazette no. 37 bis of 10/09/2018 (RwandaLII, English text) — arts 11 to 17, 32 and 36 on placement, reporting, foster care and offences of neglect and abandonment

The general article: Childcare · Compare with another country

Inheritance

Under Law nº 71/2024 sons and daughters inherit equal portions (art 356), the surviving spouse takes an equal share with the children and may keep the family home by pre-emption (art 375), a will must be made in authentic form before a notary or civil registrar (art 366), and gifts and legacies may not exceed one-fifth of the property where the giver has children (art 193).

Full detail: Inheritance