What is Parental Responsibility?

Parental Responsibility is defined by the Children Act to include “all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has”.

Essentially this means that any individual with Parental Responsibility is entitled to be involved in significant decisions about a child’s upbringing. This can include things such as where a child should be schooled and what medical treatment that child should receive.

The mother who has given birth to her child always has Parental Responsibility. However, the situation is not always as clear cut for fathers.

A child’s father will have Parental Responsibility if:-

1. He is married to the child’s mother at the time of the birth; or
2. He is named on the Birth Certificate for births registered in England and Wales after 1^stDecember 2003;  or
3. He and the child’s mother have entered into a Parent Responsibility Agreement which is lodged with the Court or upon receiving an application the Court has granted a Parental Responsibility in an Order to the father.

Separate to those possibilities, if a Child Arrangements Order is made in favour of somebody stating that the child is to live with them then they will automatically acquire Parental Responsibility while ever that Order remains in force.

It can be quite common for step parents to acquire this responsibility. They would do this by entering in to a Parental Responsibility Agreement as noted above or obtaining a Court Order. This is only an option however if the step parent is a spouse or civil partner of either the mother or father, if they simply live together then this option is not available.

Our team aim to provide you with the best possible advice and professional support to assist you in a number of private children law disputes. To find out more information about Parental Responsibility or any other Family Law issue please  contact one of our local Family Law experts on 0800 015 0340.