In my master's thesis, with the help of a case study, I write about the role of the competent center for social work in proceedings for he protection of child's best interests in case of separation. Furthermore I also focus on whether the center for social work in the case study acted in accordance with laws, recommendations and public authority. I am also interested in how the social worker, in the researched case, approached writing an opinion to the court in the court procedure for protection of the best interests of the child, what knowledge and professional bases she needed for competent work and how she cooperated with the court. The theoretical part covers the topic of general definitions of marriage, cohabitation, family and divorce or disintegration of the cohabitation. In the following I write about the consequences of divorce and about the child in the divorce process. I also focus on social work with the family, the role of the center for social work in the divorce process and further on the protection of the interests of children, the consideration of the child's voice in assessing their benefits and measures to protect the best interests of the child. I conclude the theoretical part with the topic of cooperation between the center for social work and the court and opinions to the court in court proceedings for the protection of the interests of the child. The empirical part presents the the characteristics of a qualitative case study and the results obtained through the analysis of family file and a partially standardized interview conducted with a social worker who was responsible for the case and three district judges. The results showed that the role of the center for social work in the mentioned procedure is to reach an agreement with the parents on the care, upbringing, maintenance and contacts of the minor child. If the child's best interests are endangered, the center for social work, must protect the child by writing an opinion to the court proposing a reasonable temporary assessment order to protect the child until the completion of the proceedings in question. The Center for Social Work operated in accordance with the applicable legislation and recommendations, and the social worker approached the writing of the opinion through teamwork, thus maintaining the importance and objectivity of the opinion. In the researched case, she also used different approaches to work, and cooperation with the court took place mainly formally and through written correspondence.
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