Withdrawal of the right to determine the child's place of residence and placement of a child outside the family to maintain the existing living situation

Facts

The case concerns the withdrawal of the right to determine the place of residence of daughter [B.] by the Child and Adult Protection Authority (KESB) Olten-Gösgen after the death of mother C. The KESB ordered that [B.] remain placed with E., the deceased mother's last partner, instead of returning to father A.

[A.] appealed the KESB's decision to the Administrative Court of the Canton of Solothurn, which was dismissed. Thereupon, [A.] appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court first addressed the question of whether the Administrative Court was right to waive a public hearing. It concluded that this was justified due to the particular burden on daughter [B.] from the death of her mother and the resulting conflict of loyalty between the interests of the father and her own interests.

On the merits, the Federal Supreme Court affirmed the withdrawal of the right to determine the place of residence of [B.] in accordance with Art. 310 para. 1 and 3 CC. It had to be examined whether the move of [B.] to the father would seriously…