Parental Rights and Responsibilities Legal advice for unmarried couples regarding finances and children from solicitors in Milton Keynes

It includes naming a child, providing a home, protecting and maintaining a child, ensuring they receive an education, providing medical treatment where necessary, providing discipline, and looking after their property on their behalf.

Parents with parental responsibility have the right to be consulted about major decisions and some actions cannot be taken without their consent, for example, taking the child abroad to live, changing their school or agreeing to a serious medical procedure.

At Heald Solicitors our family lawyers represent parents in enforcing their parental rights as well as obtaining parental responsibility for those who may not automatically have this. We understand how important issues relating to your children are and we will support and advise you to ensure that you have the assistance you need during your separation.

Who has parental responsibility?

Birth mothers automatically have parental responsibility along with the father if they were married at the time of the birth.

Unmarried fathers will generally have parental responsibility if they jointly register the birth of the child with the mother and are named on the birth certificate.

Same-sex civil partners will both have parental responsibility if they were civil partners at the time of the treatment, e.g donor insemination or fertility treatment.

Obtaining parental responsibility

If you do not have parental responsibility, you can obtain this by entering into a voluntary agreement with the child’s mother by signing a parental responsibility agreement or by applying to the court for a parental responsibility order.

It is also possible to gain parental responsibility as a biological father by marrying the child’s mother or by re-registering a birth in both parents’ names.

As a father, if you obtain a child arrangements order that says that your child will live with you, this will also grant you parental responsibility.

If you wish to make a court application for parental responsibility, you need to be closely connected to the child, for example, be their father, step-parent or second female parent. The court will look at a number of issues, including the following:

• The level of commitment the applicant has shown towards the child, for example, by way of financial support, contact and involvement in the child’s life;
• Whether the status of the birth father is in dispute;
• The amount of attachment between the applicant and the child;
• The reason for the application.

Parental responsibility is often applied for at the same time as a child arrangements order.