Child benefit (Barnetrygd)

Child benefit is tax-free support to the parent or guardian of a child under age 18, who is or will be resident in the country for 12 months or more. The person may be one parent of a couple, a lone parent, a foster parent or a children’s home or institution. It is not a social security benefit in the usual sense, but rather a means of compensating for the expenses of providing for children. It does not depend on the income of the person to whom it is paid. Child benefit is paid monthly, starting one month after the child is born or takes up residence in the country and ceases at the end of the month of its 18th birthday. There are two basic rates: for the first and second child and for the third and subsequent child. An additional benefit is paid if you live in Finnmark county or the six northernmost municipalities in Nord-Troms. An additional infant benefit is paid for children one to three years old. An extended benefit equal to the rate for one more child than you actually have is paid if you are a widow or widower, are divorced or separated or are a lone parent. Special rules apply within the EEA for children whose providers live in another country. For further details, contact the local National Insurance office, listed under Trygdekontoret in the Pink Pages.

Child-care department (Barnevern)

Each municipality has a child-care department to help children and young people under the age of 18 who find themselves in difficult situations. They try to ensure acceptable living conditions for children in their own homes. Its staff make home visits and offer help and advice where necessary. Help may be in the form of placing the child in a day-care centre, finding a place at school or to getting them a job. Help can also come from a support person or be financial assistance. If you are aware of children or young people who find themselves in a difficult situation at home, you can voice your concerns to your nearest child-care department. In some situations, the daily care of children under age 18 will be assumed by the authorities where there is evidence of gross negligence, abuse or ill treatment, or the child’s mental and physical welfare would suffer by living at home. A county board for social welfare cases takes the decisions in these cases and a lawyer and an interpreter represent the parents, if required.

Children’s games (Barneleker)

Most of the traditional children’s games played throughout Europe, North America and elsewhere, are played in Norway. In alphabetical order of their names in English, the most popular games are:

• Cops and robbers or cops and thieves (gjemsel or titt-tei), play “police” hunt “robbers”.
• Cowboys and Indians (Indianer og hvit), players imitate the actions of, and especially battles between, cowboys and Indians.
• Follow the leader (Hermegåsa), players follow a leader, and each must do what the leader does, or pay a forfeit.
• Hide-and-seek (gjemsel or titt-tei), one or more of the players hide, and the rest, at a given signal, set out to find them.
• Hopscotch (paradis or hoppe paradis), a player hops on one foot and drives forward with it a flat stone, fragment of a slate or tile, etc., from one compartment to another of an oblong figure traced out on the ground, so as always to hop over or clear each scotch or line.
• London bridge (bro-bro-brille), a singing game with various actions.
• Marbles (klinkekuler), a number of marbles are arranged in a ring (or sometimes in a row), from which the players attempt to dislodge them by “shooting” a marble at them with the finger and thumb.
• Tug of war (dragkamp or tautrekking), a contest between two teams who haul at the opposite ends of a rope, each trying to drag the other over a line marked between them.

Children’s rights (Barn og unges rettigheter)

Children’s rights are ensured in several ways, principally through the office of the Ombudsman for children. In practice and in compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, five basic groups of rights and freedoms (rettigheter) are involved: civil (sivile), political (politisk), financial (økonomisk), social (sosial) and cultural (kulturell).

Children’s toys (Leker)

Toys are sold principally by toys shops, now mostly in shopping malls. Like other goods, toys are more expensive than in many other countries. So if you wish, you may find good quality used toys at flea markets (loppemarked), usually held in the spring and in the autumn, by school bands (skolekorps), church parishes (menighet) or other volunteer organisations. Children spend a lot of time out of doors, consequently popular toys are those that can resist the rigours of life outdoors and sports equipment. Some useful names: bicycle (sykkel), blackboard (tavle), blocks (klosser), boat (båt), book (bok), bow and arrow (pil og bue), building set (byggesett), car (bil), cash register (kasseapparat), cassette player (kassettspiller), crayons (fargeblyanter), doll (dukke), doll furniture (dukkemøbler), doll’s house (dukkehus), doll’s pram (dukkevogn), electric train (elektrisk tog), fire engine (brannbil), glue (lim), jungle gym (klatrestativ), kite (drage), marbles (klinkekuler), paper (papir), pencils (blyanter), piggy bank (sparegris), rattle (rangle), rocking horse (gyngehest), sandbox (sandkasse), scissors (saks), scooter (sparksykkel), skipping rope (hoppetau), sledge (kjelke, akebrett, fiskekjelke), slide (rutsjebane), soft toys (kosedyr), swing (huske), tea set (te servise), teddy bear (bamse), tent (telt), tricycle (trehjulssykkel), truck (lastebil).

Cohabitation (Samboerforhold)

Living together without being married is increasingly popular. One of its attractions is that it lacks the formal bonds of marriage, yet lets a couple live together as husband and wife. Indeed, nearly half of all children now are born out of wedlock. Cohabiting couples also enjoy other advantages of marriage, such as being entitled to family discounts on airline tickets, provided cohabitation for two years can be proven. However, because it lacks a formal bond, cohabitation is not the legal equivalent of marriage, no matter how long an unmarried couple lives together.

The bond is informal. Unlike marriage and divorce, there are no rules for entering into or terminating a cohabitant relationship.

Financial relationships are not defined, as they are for marriages and for registered partnerships. Cohabitants are considered financially independent, though they may formally agree to share expenses, such as in buying housing.

Parental responsibilities for joint children are not automatic as they are for a married couple. The mother is considered the sole parent unless the couple otherwise notifies the National Register (Chapter 38).

Adoption is restricted. A cohabitant couple cannot adopt a child, and single-parent adoptions are infrequent. Inheritance is not automatic as it is for a married couple, though a cohabiting couple may make out individual wills with each other as beneficiaries. The welfare system views cohabitants as single persons, so they are not entitled to the same benefits as are married couples. Taxation regards cohabitants as single persons who must file individual tax returns. The taxable income and estate of joint children cannot be put on one tax return, but must be shared between the two returns.

Cremation (Kremasjon)

Cremation is more common than burial in the cities. All arrangements can be made by a funeral director. There are about 20 authorised crematoria (godkjente krematorier) in the country, most in the more densely populated urban areas. The ashes are stored in a zinc urn because it is biodegradable. Urns are stored in a storeroom at the crematorium and in the summer a simple ceremony is held for the burial of the urn. You may request that you be cremated upon death, provided that you are age 15 or older and that you make a written, signed and dated statement of your wish (erklœring om kremasjori). If you wish that your ashes be scattered after cremation, you should apply to the fylkesmann (“County governor”) of the county (fylke) in which the ashes are to be strewn.

Custody of children (Foreldreansvar)

Care of children is considered the mutual responsibility of a married couple. However, custody must be agreed upon in a divorce. The mother is regarded as the sole parent of a child born to a couple who live in cohabitation, unless the couple otherwise notifies the National Register (Chapter 38). Parents who disagree on child custody may settle their disagreement in court or by application to the County Governor (Fylkesmann). The child-care department can take custody of children of extremely negligent parents.

Day-care centres (Barnehager)

Day-care centres are mainly run by the municipality (kommune), though some are private (privat). There are four types:

• 1Helsdagsbarnehager open from 7:30 am till 5 pm five days a week. Usually for children from 1 to 5 years old, held in a purpose built location, places can be shared.
• 2Familiebarnehager open from 7:45 am till 4:15 pm five days a week, specially for children under 3, usually held in a private home.
• 3Halvsdagbarnehager take children 6 hours a day, normally from 9 am till 3 pm.
• 4Åpen barnehager where mothers or child minders can join their charges for a few hours per week.

Application forms for day-care centre places are available from the health clinic where you take your child for their regularly check ups, or from the municipality’s Child and Youth section (Barn- og ungdomsavdeling); telephone numbers are in the Pink Pages in the local municipality listing. Places are allocated in the spring for uptake in August. The municipality sets the cost, but there is a rebate for siblings. If you are in a low-income bracket, it is possible to pay reduced rates or even to have a fully subsidised place. Children with special needs, or from single-parent families or from families where there is severe illness in the immediate family, will usually receive priority for places.

Death (Dødsfall)

If a death occurs at home, call a doctor (lege) who can issue a death certificate (dødsattest). If a death occurs in a hospital (sykehus), the staff will ensure that a death certificate is issued. Norwegian Foreign Service Stations (utenriksstasjoner) will assist with the details involved in the death of a Norwegian citizen abroad. If a foreigner dies in Norway, his/her passport should be sent to the appropriate embassy and they will issue a form reporting death of a citizen abroad; usually a fee is charged for both the registration and the certificate itself. In most countries, death certificates are necessary to settle estates. The embassy can also recommend funeral directors who can assist in shipping the deceased’s body home, if the family so wishes. This may require special paperwork. Norwegian citizens register death with the local probate office (skifteretten in the Pink Pages) or sheriff’s office (lensmannen in the Pink Pages), depending on where they lived. If you are a member of the National Insurance scheme contact your local office concerning widow’s (widower’s) payments, pensions and death payments.

Death notices and obituaries (Dødsannonser og nekrologer)

When a person dies, the family and friends usually insert a death notice within a few days, usually in the local newspaper and usually it is the only notice given. It contains the name of the surviving spouse, children and their spouses, and grandchildren and their spouses, in that order, as well as the details of the funeral. One of the 22 small symbols shown opposite appears at the top of the notice, to indicate the faith or wishes of the deceased. A friend or colleague may write an obituary, which follows.

Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Barne-, ungdoms- og familiedirektoratet, Bufdir)

Bufdir is the government agency for the welfare and protection of children and families. It deals principally with child welfare, family counselling, marital relations, support and divorce cases, adoption, ex gratia payment matters, support of child and youth organisations, youth exchanges and youth information. It also supports foster home services, family-based activities for child welfare and a number of child welfare institutions. It is organised with a head office in Oslo (Bufdir); Universitetsgt 7, PO Box 8043 Dep, 0032 Oslo, Tel: 24044000, Fax: 24044001, www.bufdir.no, and it has five regional service offices (Bufetat) across the country, www.bufetat.no: Northern Region: Betongveien 2, PO Box 2162 Elvebakken, 9508 Alta, Tel: 78481000, Fax: 78481001, region.nord@sbf.stat.no; Central Region: Vestre Rosten 77, PO Box 73, 7475 Trondheim, Tel: 73563000, Fax: 73563001, region.midt@sbf.stat.no; Western Region: Strandgaten 59, 5004 Bergen, Tel: 55377000, Fax: 55377001, region.vest@sbf.stat.no; Eastern Region: Pilestredet 27, PO Box 7024 St Olavs plass, 0130 Oslo, Tel: 24043000. Fax: 24043001, region.ost@sbf.stat.no; Southern Region: Olav Trygvassonsgt 4, PO Box 2403, 3104 Tønsberg, Tel: 33729000, Fax: 33729001, region.sor@sbf.stat.no.

Divorce (Skilsmisse)

Today, about half of all marriages end in divorce. That trend is new. At the end of the 1800s there were less than 100 divorces per year. This corresponds to 0.2 divorces per

Symbols indicating the beliefs or wishes of the dead.

1,000 married women as compared to 12.3 today. In the early 1930s, the number of divorces rose above 1,000. Since then, it has steadily increased, to 12,800 in 2003.

When a relationship has finally broken down, either one or both persons of a married couple may seek a divorce. First, they must have lived apart for at least two years. Second, for at least one year, they must have had a legal separation (separasjon) granted by the County Governor (fylkesmannen). A separation is intended to give a couple time to reconcile their differences before taking the final step of divorcing. It requires that they live apart and be financially independent, but regards them legally to be still married.

They can sort out practical matters of separation and divorce by negotiation between themselves or by going to the courts. They also may engage in mediation, which aims to resolve matters of the future by negotiating with each other, assisted by professional mediators, usually at a family counselling office. If a couple has children less than 16 years old, before applying for a separation, mediation is mandatory. When an agreement is reached, the office will issue a certificate of mediation (meklingsattest) to be enclosed with the application for separation and with any subsequent application for divorce. A separated person not yet divorced cannot remarry.

After being separated for one year or more, either person may be granted a permit of divorce (bevilling) by the County Governor. If a couple has no formal separation but simply split up and move away from each other, after two years, either person may apply for a divorce. A person who has been separated or divorced abroad may apply to the County Governor to have the status recognised as valid in Norway.

A separated couple has separate finances. However, if one person of a separated couple has worked in the home for many years and cannot find employment, he/she may claim financial maintenance (økonomisk støtte) from the other. In particular, a spouse with custody of the children can claim child support maintenance (barnebidrag) from the other. Child support maintenance is required by law and can be deducted from wages.

In some cases, a person may be granted a divorce without going through separation. For instance, a woman subjected to extreme brutality or attempted murder of herself or her children may be granted a divorce by decree (skilsmisse ved dom). Either person may apply for immediate dissolution (oppløsning) of a marriage in which one of the spouses is guilty of bigamy or in which the spouses are found to be closely related.

For further details, contact the nearest County Governor’s office, listed under Fylkesmann in the Pink Pages.

Family counselling (Familievern)

Family counselling is offered at more than 90 offices throughout the country. You may seek free help at one of these offices, as for:

• marital problems
• dealing with difficult children
• family members in crisis
• individuals having difficulty relating to their family, friends or colleagues
• couples seeking advice in connection with separation or divorce
• the required mediation for couples who seek separation and who have children younger than 16.

Professionals, including social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists, staff the offices. Interpreters usually can be provided when needed. All matters are confidential. The offices are operated by two organisations:

• 1Family Affairs Offices (Familievernkontorer) are located in all municipalities, under the auspices of the Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs.
• 2Family Counselling Offices (Familierådgivningskontorer) are run by the Family Affairs Office of the Church of Norway (Kirkens Familievern – FK). You may contact the nearest office listed under Familierådgivningskontor in the Pink Pages or at the FK head office, Lille Borgen vei 13, 0370 Oslo, Tel: 23332220, Fax: 23367835. www.kirkensfamilievern.no.

Funeral directors (Begravelsesbyråer)

There are about 250 funeral directors across the country, who together handle about 44,000 funerals a year. To locate a funeral director, look under begravelses- og kremasjonsbyråer in the Yellow Pages. Most of the country’s funeral directors are small or family businesses, although there are a few affiliation groups. Families unable to pay for a funeral can apply to the local municipality for support, contact the National Insurance Office (Trygdekontoret in the Pink Pages) for details. The Norwegian National Association of Funeral Directors (Begravelsesbyråenes Forume) can provide details on the profession, Drammensveien 30, PO Box 2900 solli, 0230 Oslo, Tel: 22541700, Fax: 22541700, www.bfn.no.

Funerals (Begravelse, bisettelse)

All arrangements for a funeral can be made by a funeral director. In Norwegian, one speaks of two types of funeral. The traditional begravelse is the ceremony for a person to be buried and translates directly to “burial” in English. Bisettelse is the ceremony for a person not to be buried, but rather cremated or transported to another place for burial. In English its closest translation is “obsequies”, which now is seldom used and is most associated with pompous memorial services. Should you wish that the body be repatriated to another country, the funeral director will make the necessary arrangements, including contacting the police to apply for permission to send the body overseas and will also contact the embassy where the death will be registered and a certificate issued. Current Norwegian rules require burial or cremation within eight days of death. Muslims require the body to be buried before the next dawn. In cities cremation now is more common than burial; in Oslo 80% are cremated, whereas in the countryside only 5% are cremated. The basic coffin is white-painted pine. A body may be viewed at the hospital or at the crematorium a few days before the cremation. During the winter, in order to bury the coffin, the ground is warmed up and dug by machinery. In the past, the coffins used to lie along the perimeter of the church in what was called a svalegang (cooling gallery).

Guardianship (Vergemål)

Guardianship is administered by the Public Guardian’s Office (Overformynderi), which is an institution that exercises superintendence and control of the assets of minors (mindreårige) less than 18 years old and of dependent adults legally incapable of doing so themselves (umyndiggorte). In every town and district there is a Public Guardian’s office, usually with two Public Guardians chosen by the Municipal Executive Board (Formannskapet).

Handicapped (Handikap)

In general use, handicapped persons are spoken of as being disabled (funksjonshemmede) from birth or as the result of disease or injury, or mentally or physically development impaired (utviklingshemmede).

The routine development checks of infants and children at local health clinics (Chapter 21) help identify handicaps at an early age. If your child is handicapped, the health clinic will advise you on contacting the relevant specialists (spesialister) and institutions (institusjoner).

Day-care centres give priority to handicapped children, provided that they can benefit from being with other children. Contact the municipal social services (sosialtjeneste) or day-care centre office (barnehagekontor) for further information. Many municipalities have a lekotek (“toy library”) which has toys, books and special toys for disabled children available on loan and can advise on their use. Contact the local educational-psychological service (Chapter 13) for the location of the nearest lekotek.

Financial support (økonomisk ytelser) is available to parents of handicapped children. For details, contact the local Trygdekontoret listed in the Pink Pages. Parents may also be eligible for respite care (Chapter 21) services.

Long-term care of the impaired is now at the municipal level.