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Parental responsibility

Parental responsibility is 'all the rights, duties, powers and responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and the child's property'. Mothers and fathers, who are (or were) married to the mother  when the child was born or afterwards, have this automatically, other fathers can obtain it in one of 3 ways:

• By jointly registering (or re-registering the child's birth) after December 1, 2003
• By making a formal agreement, known as a 'parental responsibility agreement' with the mother. A form for making a parental responsibility agreement is available on Her Majesty's Courts Service website.
• By obtaining a parental responsibility order from the court.

Other court orders

Parents, relatives and carers and other people concerned about the arrangements for the children can apply to the court for the orders detailed below but those who are not parents may need to get permission from the court to do this. Most applications are by mothers and fathers who are unable to agree about contact.

The Court can make several orders in respect of children of the family.

• "residence orders" which say who the children should live with.
• "contact orders" which say who the children are allowed to see, or receive letters or telephone calls from.
• "prohibited steps orders" which prevent a child's parents, or any other named person, from taking certain steps, such as taking a child abroad without first getting the court's permission.
• "specific issues orders" which set out precisely how a particular matter about the children should be handled such as their schooling.

You are entitled to apply for the above orders as a right if you have parental responsibility.

Where a father who has not got parental responsibility gets a residence order the court will make a parental responsibility order as well.

Advice

We offer a free half hour advice on all matters relating to child contact. Thereafter legal work would be charged on an hourly rate of £150 per hour.

We'd be happy to answer your questions! Call us on 01202 299992, 01202 863933 or enquire online.

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