The legal rights and duties to raise your children are called parental responsibility. Whether or not you have parental responsibility will affect whether you can make major decisions for your children. Although a child can only have two legal parents, any number of people can have parental responsibility, including grandparents.
Mothers are automatically granted parental responsibility when their child is born, however, fathers will only have parental responsibility where they are married to the mother. If not, they will need to obtain parental responsibility through a parental responsibility agreement.
Our parental responsibility solicitors can support you to obtain parental responsibility if you do not have it. For example, we can help unmarried fathers, unmarried same-sex second parents, individuals and families who are adopting a child, or those having a child through surrogacy.
We can provide legal advice and support across various areas, including:
- Parental responsibility agreements
- Parental responsibility orders
- Removing parental responsibility
If you need support with any matters related to parental responsibility, please get in touch by using the contact details below.
Contact our parental responsibility solicitors today
Get in touch with our friendly and experienced parental responsibility solicitors by giving us a call or filling in our simple online enquiry form.
What is parental responsibility?
Parental Responsibility means the rights, powers, and duties someone has to make decisions about their child’s upbringing and day-to-day care. It is not the same as legal parenthood. A child can only have two legal parents, but any number of people can have parental responsibility, including a local authority (if the child is taken into care).
People with parental responsibility are in charge of making important decisions about a child’s life, including:
- Where the child lives
- Who the child spends time with
- What medical treatment the child should or should not have
- Where the child goes to school
- What religious education (if any) the child should have
- Their name
- Whether they can go abroad, either on holiday or to live permanently
Only the birth mother is guaranteed parental responsibility from birth. If the circumstances are right, the father or female partner is likely to automatically acquire parental responsibility without having to take any extra steps (beyond, for example, being married to the birth mother).
If you do not automatically acquire parental responsibility, you may be able to acquire it in other ways, such as by entering into a Parental Responsibility Agreement with the birth mother.
Who has parental responsibility?
The person who gives birth to the child automatically gets parental responsibility, even if it is a surrogate who gives birth to the child.
The following people also automatically get parental responsibility along with the birth mother:
- Fathers who were married to the birth mother at the time of birth
- Female civil partners who were in a civil partnership with the birth mother at the time of birth in certain circumstances
- Unmarried fathers and female partners who are registered on the child’s birth certificate as a parent on or after 1 December 2003
How can I get parental responsibility?
Unmarried fathers can get parental responsibility in several ways, including:
- Marrying the mother
- Getting his name put on the birth certificate
- Entering into a Parental Responsibility Agreement with the mother
- Getting a Parental Responsibility Order from the court
- Being named the resident parent under a Child Arrangements Order
Unmarried same sex second parents can also get parental responsibility in several ways, including :
- Getting a Parental Responsibility Order from the court
- Marrying the mother or entering into a civil partnership then making a Parental Responsibility Agreement
- Being named the resident parent under a Child Arrangements Order
Parental Responsibility Agreements
A Parental Responsibility Agreement refers to an agreement between a mother and father. The agreement grants the father with parental responsibility for their child.
If the parents of a child are not married, the father does not automatically obtain parental responsibility, and so a parental responsibility agreement is required. To obtain this agreement, both parties must consent.
If you are an unmarried father who would like to enter into a parental responsibility agreement, we can support you.
We can also provide assistance for same sex second parents who would like to obtain parental responsibility. Additionally, we can help intended parents having a child through surrogacy, and adoptive parents who are adopting a child.
Parental Responsibility Order
A parental responsibility agreement is a voluntary legal agreement, and it is not possible to obtain this agreement in all circumstances. For example, where parents cannot make this agreement between themselves, and/or there are disputes concerning parental responsibility.
If you need to obtain parental responsibility, and cannot do so via a parental responsibility agreement, we can help you to apply through the Court for a Parental Responsibility Order.
For more information, please get in touch with our experts today.
Removing Parental Responsibility
Parental responsibility can be removed from a mother and/ or father if their child is going to be adopted. Besides these circumstances, it is incredibly rare for parental responsibility to be removed. Regardless, the Court may rule to remove parental responsibility in more extreme circumstances where a child’s safety is at risk and where abuse has occurred.
If you have any questions about removing parental rights, please get in touch with our experts at Crisp & Co.