Parental Responsibility – What is it, who has it & how to obtain it.
The Kingsfords FAMILY LAW TEAM are able to provide expert advice, when advising you on the important aspects of your responsibilities as a parent. The information contained in this article relates to the legal jurisdiction of England and Wales, as other rules may prevail in other parts of the UK.
If you have any concerns or questions in the light of this article, please start the conversation by contacting our expert Family Law solicitors and lawyers via 01233 665544, or get in touch via our website by CLICKING HERE, or by contacting our offices in Ashford, Cranbrook or Hythe.
What is Parental Responsibility?
These are the legal rights and responsibilities held by all mothers and most fathers towards their children. In essence your most important roles are to provide a home for the child, whilst protecting them and providing for them financially. (You should provide for your child financially, regardless of whether you have parental responsibility or not).
Your other duties include, naming them, arranging for your child to be educated and ensuring they receive medical care. You are also obligated to discipline the child and look after the child’s property. For routine decisions obtaining the consent of the other parent is not always necessary. Which school shoes, or clothes to buy for example.
Who has Parental Responsibility?
A mother will have responsibility from the birth of the child, whilst the father will additionally have responsibility, if he is married to the mother, or listed as the father on the child’s Birth Certificate. It is possible to apply for parental responsibility if you do not fit either of these categories. For example you may seek to apply to court for a Parental Responsibility Order or by reaching a written agreement with the mother. Similarly, upon a child’s adoption, both will have parental responsibility.
Same Sex Parenting
Each same sex partner will have parental responsibility, if they were Civil Partners at the time of the pregnancy process, such as donor insemination. Where the same sex partners were Non-Civil Partners, the 2nd parent may secure parental responsibility by making formal application or becoming a civil partner and entering into a parental responsibility agreement. (You may also jointly register the birth).
What rules apply if the Parents are Separated?
If you do not live with the child, but still have parental responsibility, it does not automatically follow that you are entitled to spend time with them. The other parent must however engage with you, when making important decisions for the child – such as which school they should attend, or if the parent and child intend to move elsewhere in the UK or abroad.
In such circumstances it makes sense to record any agreements reached in writing. In cases where the parents are unable to reach an agreement on important issues, application can be made to the Court under the Children Act 1989 for a “Specific Issue Order”, or alternatively a “Prohibited Steps Order”. (The latter to prevent a parent from proceeding with a threatened unacceptable step).
In all such cases, the Court will always make a decision based upon the child’s best interests, rather than parents with competing views.
What happens if the Parents’ Divorce?
If the parents are married when the child is born, but subsequently divorce, they will both retain parental responsibility.
What rules apply if the Child is born oversees?
If your child is born overseas but comes to live within the UK, parental responsibilities will depend upon which jurisdiction the child lives in (e.g. England & Wales). You should register your child’s birth according to the regulations of that country and secure a birth certificate. That Certificate should then be accepted in the UK and can be recorded with the General Register Office and used for example when seeking to obtain a passport or place a child at school.
If any of these issues impact upon you, please do contact our expert Family Law solicitors and lawyers via 01233 665544, , or get in touch via our website by CLICKING HERE, or by contacting our offices in Ashford, Cranbrook or Hythe.