Law 2388 of 2024: Legal Recognition of “Families Formed by Upbringing

Law 2388 of 2024 granted legal recognition to the family of upbringing, defined as the bond between the person who assumes the care and upbringing of a minor and the one who receives such care, without any biological or adoptive link. The law filled a long-standing legal gap by allowing this relationship to be formally recognized through judicial or notarial proceedings, granting mainly patrimonial and welfare effects that impact inheritance, alimony, tax, and social security matters.

Given the variety of interpretations that arose after its enactment, the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) unified its case law through Judgment SC1702-2025 of August 5, 2025, aiming to provide clarity and coherence to this new legal category.

1. What does the recognition of the family of upbringing entail according to the Court?

The CSJ stated that the family of upbringing constitutes an autonomous civil status, distinct from filiation, with its own legal effects. In the Court’s words: “Upbringing, by itself, is not a source of filiation—nor does it need to be in order to receive legal protection.”

This means that Law 2388 does not create kinship ties nor modify civil status. However, it does recognize that parents and children by upbringing are entitled to a set of economic and welfare rights comparable, in certain respects, to those of biological or adoptive families.

2. What were the main rules established in Judgment SC1702-2025?

The Court set out eight interpretative guidelines, among which the following stand out:

Distinction between filiation and upbringing.

Filiation remains limited to biological, adoptive, or consent-based relationships arising from assisted reproduction techniques. Upbringing, on the other hand, is an independent category that protects socio-affective bonds with defined economic effects, without altering filiation.

Conceptual autonomy and coexistence.

A person may simultaneously have a filial bond with their biological parents and a legal upbringing bond with the person who effectively raised them, without resulting in double filiation or conflicting rights.

Substantive requirements.

It must be proven that there was a notorious possession of the status of child by upbringing, a non-existent or precarious relationship with the biological parents, and the voluntary assumption of the parental role. The Court emphasized that mere family solidarity—such as financial support or temporary care by relatives—does not in itself constitute a family of upbringing, as this relationship requires the actual substitution of the parental role.

3. What legal effects does this bond produce?

Recognition produces patrimonial and welfare effects: inheritance rights, reciprocal maintenance obligations, survivor’s pension, visitation rights, bereavement leave, and equal treatment in social security matters, among others. Economically, these rights directly affect family wealth distribution, access to pension benefits, and the tax treatment of dependents.

However, it does not grant parental authority (patria potestad) nor alter the child’s civil status, since its effects are focused on patrimonial and material protection spheres.

4. What are the main contributions of the Judgment and the remaining challenges?

The Judgment not only clarifies the scope of Law 2388 of 2024 but also sets clear limits to prevent opportunistic use of the figure for purely patrimonial purposes. Its greatest contribution lies in defining when a family of upbringing truly exists and when there is merely family solidarity, ensuring that economic and welfare benefits are granted only to relationships that are genuinely consolidated.

Nevertheless, practical challenges remain: the absence of a standardized procedure to register the family of upbringing in the civil registry, gaps concerning the coexistence between filiation and upbringing, and the lack of a clear framework for extended families of upbringing (such as uncles, grandparents, or other caregivers). These issues will continue to test the effective implementation of this new legal category.os que seguirán poniendo a prueba la aplicación efectiva de esta nueva categoría jurídica.

Written by: Catalina Sánchez