House of Peoples Adopts Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Caregiver Parents in FBiH

(Patria) - The House of Peoples of the FBiH Parliament adopted at today's session, as the House of Representatives did two days ago, the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Caregiver Parents in FBiH.

The explanation states that the amendments contain a total of 11 articles, the provisions of which aim to improve existing legal solutions and eliminate observed problems in their application.

The amendments relate to the definition and status of caregiver parents, as well as the conditions for recognizing this status, and the reasons for not recognizing it.

They also relate to the termination of the status and the initiation of proceedings for recognizing the status of caregiver parent, as well as the records of persons who have been granted this status.

One of the amendments also includes a detailed definition of the category of relatives who, in the context of applying this regulation, can acquire the status of caregiver parent.

It is stipulated that a spouse, common-law partner, child or stepchild, blood relatives, and relatives by affinity can acquire the status of caregiver parent.

Also, for relatives as caregiver parents, a common household is defined as a condition for acquiring the status.

In addition, common-law unions are equated with marital unions, and the proposed amendments also allow parents whose children are in the education system to acquire the status of caregiver parent, regardless of how many hours they spend in educational or preschool institutions.

The proposer states in the explanation that additional funds need to be secured regarding the fiscal effects that the amendments to the Law on Caregiver Parents will have on the FBiH budget.

Based on the aforementioned amendments, an increase in the existing number of beneficiaries by about 25 percent is foreseen.

Considering that 1,576 beneficiaries of financial compensation for caregiver parents were registered for the December 2024 payment, it is estimated that this number could reach up to 2,000 beneficiaries if the proposed amendments to the Law on Caregiver Parents are adopted.