Faye Remnant from Edward Hands and Lewis
By Faye Remnant
The legal rights and responsibilities of mothers and fathers are known as ‘parental responsibility’. The most important duties of someone with parental responsibility are to protect and maintain the child, provide the child with a home, consenting to medical treatment, looking after the child’s property, disciplining the child, choosing and providing the education of the child and naming the child.
Without parental responsibility the parent has no right to do such things as consent to the child’s medical treatment or be involved in the child’s education
If you have parental responsibility of a child but you do not live with them, the other parent will still need to keep you updated with their progress and well-being. Although parental responsibility does give you the legal right to see the child it does not guarantee contact.
Parents are required to look after their child financially regardless of whether they have parental responsibility or not.
Who has parental responsibility?
If the parent’s are married when the child is born then they will both have parental responsibility.
If the mother is not married she will have automatic parental responsibility of the child from birth.
If the father is not married to the child’s mother he may not have parental responsibility unless:
– The father is jointly registered on the birth certificate with the mother after 1st December 2013
– The father has a parental responsibility agreement with the mother
– The father has a parental responsibility order from a court
Same-sex couples
– If the couple are civil-partnered then both partners will have parental responsibility for the child.
– If the couple are not civil partnered then the second partner will not have parental responsibility but can apply for it.
How can I get parental responsibility?
Parental responsibility can be attained by:
– marrying the mother of the child and jointly registering the birth
– creating a parental responsibility agreement with the mother of the child
– applying for a court order if you cannot agree arrangements with the child’s mother
– applying for parental responsibility if a parental agreement was made
– becoming a civil partner of the other parent and making a parental responsibility agreement or jointly registering the birth
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