It might seem logical that the parents of a child automatically have parental responsibility, but that is not always the case. The child’s birth mother has parental responsibility. Parental responsibility can however be removed from the birth mother by an adoption order or by a parental order following surrogacy.
If the child’s father and mother were married to each other at the time of the child’s birth, they each have parental responsibility. If the parents were not married to each other at the time of the birth, the father can gain parental responsibility by:
Where two female parents have a child through fertility treatment, the mother’s female partner is treated in the same way as the father. Civil partners also have parallel parental responsibility rights to married people.
It is therefore possible for a legal parent not to have parental responsibility and for someone to have parental responsibility without being a legal parent.
Step-parents can also acquire parental responsibility if both the parents’ children agree and complete a step-parent parental responsibility form. An application can also be made to the court.
Parental responsibility can be acquired by individuals who are not either parents or step-parents. A court order will be required. Parental responsibility can be conferred by naming a third party as a ‘testamentary guardian’ in a will on the death of that parent, provided there is no one else with parental responsibility.
Section 3 of the Children Act 1989 defines parental responsibility as “all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and his property.”
Parental responsibility confers a range of legal rights and duties. These include:
In other words, parental responsibility allows you to make day to day decisions for the child. It does not give someone a right to spend time with the child if they do not live with them. Those with parental responsibility should liaise with each other and consult rather than taking unilateral decisions about the child’s life.
Parental responsibility in the UK usually comes to an end on the child’s 18thbirthday. However, it can end earlier if:
The court can also restrict a person’s parental responsibility by making an order to limit their rights, whilst not terminating the parental responsibility completely.
Our friendly family team are here to help and advise on family law matters, including court orders relating to parental responsibility and legal matters relating to divorce, children and finances. For further information on all our family law services, please click here.
We offer an initial one hour fixed fee appointment with one of our friendly family solicitors for £100 + VAT. This gives you the opportunity to talk your matter through with a solicitor, get their advice and then consider your options before deciding how to progress your legal matter. Please get in touch if you feel this type of appointment would be beneficial.
The contents of this article are for the purposes of general awareness only. They do not purport to constitute legal or professional advice. The law may have changed since this article was published. Readers should not act on the basis of the information included and should take appropriate professional advice upon their own particular circumstances.
