Parental responsibility refers to the legal rights and duties that a parent has regarding their child. Parental responsibility is not simply relevant to biological parents, it can also refer to the legal status that step parents, care givers or relatives have for a certain child.
Parental responsibility covers various key decisions, such as where a child will live, what type of religious education they will or will not have, any type of medical treatment they will or will not have, and various other important choices.
Mothers are automatically given parental responsibility when a child is born. Fathers will also have parental responsibility if they are married to the mother, as will same sex partners if they are in a civil partnership with the mother. Unmarried partners have the option to obtain parental responsibility by entering into an agreement with the mother.
In certain circumstances, it is desirable or necessary to remove parental responsibility, which may be the case for a number of reasons.
If you would like legal advice and support on the subject of removing parental responsibility, we can help with various areas, including:
- Voluntary termination of parental responsibility
- How to remove parental responsibility from a mother
- How to remove parental responsibility from a father
- Protections for you and your children
Get in touch with our expert family law solicitors at Crisp & Co today
If you would like to discuss parental responsibility or any related family law matter, please contact our specialist solicitors at Crisp & Co.
You can give us a call on 020 8003 4216 or request a free call back by filling out the enquiry form on the right hand side of our home page.
How Crisp & Co Solicitors can help you with removing parental responsibility
Voluntary termination of parental responsibility
Voluntary termination of parental rights occurs when a parent has decided to have their child adopted, for whatever reason.
Adoption refers to a process whereby parental responsibilities and rights are legally transferred from a child’s current parents to their new adoptive parents. Once an Adoption Order is granted, the adoptive parents are the child’s legal parents.
If you have decided to have your child adopted, we appreciate that this is a sensitive matter, and can provide the empathetic legal advice that you need.
For more information, please get in touch with our adoption solicitors.
How to remove parental responsibility from a father
In some cases, a mother might wish to remove parental responsibility from her child’s father, for example, because he is absent from the child’s life, or does not pay towards the child’s living costs.
It is worth noting that, it is rare for Courts to remove parental responsibility from a father. They would only do so in severe circumstances.
Regardless, if you believe your child’s father is negatively affecting your child’s life, there are other steps that can be taken to restrict child contact or prevent certain actions. For instance, we can help you to apply for a Prohibited Steps Order, or a Child Arrangement Order.
If you believe that your child’s safety and welfare is at risk, we can provide empathetic legal support, discussing your circumstances and options. If you and/or your child have experienced domestic abuse, our team can help you to access legal protections immediately, to keep you and your child safe.
In rare cases the Court may remove parental responsibility from a father, for instance in serious cases of abuse.
Please contact our family law solicitors today, for a respectful discussion of your circumstances.
How to remove parental responsibility from a mother
It is generally not possible to remove parental responsibility from a child’s mother, unless that child is adopted.
However, in rare cases, and where a child is at serious risk of harm, a Court might remove parental responsibility to protect the child. For instance, where a child is taken into care for their own safety, and later adopted.
If you are a father who has concerns about your child’s mother and her behaviour, our team can provide support.
In many cases, a parent wishes to remove parental responsibility from the other parent because they are absent from the child’s life. The Court however will not remove parental responsibility on these grounds.
Regardless, depending on the circumstances of the situation, there may be certain ways that we can help. For example, it may be appropriate to apply for a Prohibited Steps Order, to stop a mother from taking certain actions. Alternatively, you may be able to have certain provisions included in a Child Arrangement Order, to improve the situation.
If you believe that your child is at risk, we can provide legal advice based on your circumstances, sensitively helping you to assess your options. Where domestic abuse and/or child abuse has occurred, our team can help you to put the appropriate legal protections in place immediately.
If you would like to learn more about removing parental responsibility in the UK, our team would be happy to answer any of your questions.
Protections for you and your children
If you and or your children have been subjected to domestic abuse, we can provide empathetic and respectful advice, and help you to put legal protections in place.
We understand that this experience is a terrifying and traumatic one, and can promise that our team will treat your case with care and discretion.
Examples of legal protections that we can help with include:
Non-Molesation Orders
A Non-Molesation Order can stop an individual, including a partner or ex-partner, from using intimidating, violent or threatening behaviour towards you and your children. The Order can be used to establish certain actions that the individual cannot take, for instance, calling you, approaching you, or coming to your property.
Occupation Orders
Where you and your child are living with a perpetrator of abuse, such as a partner or ex-partner, an Occupation Order can prevent that person from continuing to live in the property.