Custody dispute took 578 days to settle for Ragnar’s children

A custody dispute following Ragnar Dixen’s divorce took 578 days to resolve, leaving his young children’s living arrangements uncertain as the case moved through Denmark’s family law system, DR reports.

Dixen said he went 48 days without seeing his children, who were one and three at the time. Their parents had initially agreed that the children would spend equal time with each of them, alternating between their homes. But the divorce became conflict-ridden, and the children’s mother moved with them to another municipality.

After the mother’s move, the Family Court Agency and the courts set temporary contact arrangements that allowed Dixen to see the children for a total of nine hours every two weeks, without overnight stays. The first time, he collected them at Silkeborg Library. He said he had worried they might not recognise him, but they ran into his arms.

Dixen applied to have the children live with him. After 225 days, the Family Court Agency ruled that they should temporarily live with their mother, who had provided most of their care up to that point.

Two hundred and seventeen days later, a district court ruled that the children should live with their father, saying he was better placed to be their residential parent and had shown a greater willingness to cooperate. Their mother appealed, so the children continued living with her while the case went to the High Court.

After another 136 days, the High Court ruled that the children should live with their mother. It said they were now more attached to her and that the parents had become better at cooperating. Dixen acknowledged that moving the children to his home would have been a major change, given that they had spent most of the time with their mother since the divorce.

The children’s mother declined to comment directly to DR. In a written response, she agreed that the lengthy proceedings had not helped the conflict, but said the case was not as straightforward as Dixen had described. She also stressed that the High Court’s decision was not based solely on the length of the proceedings.

Dixen, a local council politician and entrepreneur, said the dispute left him feeling that his life was on hold. He said his trust in the justice system broke down, his business failed, and the conflict caused stress and depression.

The Family Court Agency said it could not comment on individual cases, but that it worked to move cases to the courts quickly while gathering information needed to assess them. The agency apologised several times for delays in Dixen’s case, citing a high workload and the summer holiday period. It also said the case involved substantial information-gathering from municipalities, caseworkers, childcare institutions and a psychologist, as well as multiple applications from the parents.

Denmark’s National Audit Office has previously concluded that no action is taken for at least half the time cases are with the Family Court Agency.