In a situation where the parents are unable to agree on who holds parental responsibility, an application can be sent to court for an order to create a Parental Responsibility Order (Pro). The decision will be based on what is deemed within the child’s best interest. Furthermore, the court will take into account the following when making the decision:
- Commitment to the parental role
- Nature of the relationship with the child
- The reasoning for the order itself
How to obtain parental responsibility?
To be entitled to parental responsibility, you must have a connection of some sort with the child, (e.g. father, step-parent, second female parent).
Route 1 – Parental Responsibility Agreement
- Agreements can be reached in private or if that is not an option, through mediation
- Fathers are eligible if and when the mother of the child agrees
- Step-parents have a different form
- After filling the agreement form, it must be taken to your local family court for finalisation
Route 2 – Court Proceedings
- Where no agreement can be reached an application for a court order is the next step
- The court order itself adds up to £215
- After filling the form, it must be taken to your local family court for finalisation Changing a child’s name
That’s the simple part to understand. However, while you might imagine that only biological parents have parental responsibility for a child, the truth is far more complicated. While a child’s birth mother automatically has parental responsibility, the biological father currently only has responsibility if he was married to the mother at the time of birth or has married her since.
Unmarried fathers don’t automatically have parental responsibility if the child was born before 1 December 2003, though they do if the birth happened after that date and they are named on the birth certificate.
These days, most unmarried fathers only need to ensure their name is on the birth certificate to have parental responsibility.
What is parental responsibility?
Parental responsibility gives one the ‘rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority in a child’s life. Things a person with parental responsibility can decide would include:
- Where the child attends a school
- What religious beliefs the child should practice
- Picking the child’s name
- Decisions about the child’s medical treatment
- Where the child lives (note – if you share parental responsibility with someone else, you are not able to remove a child from the country without the other party’s consent. The one exception to this is that a resident parent may take a child abroad on holiday for up to a month without consent as long as the child arrangement order makes provisions that the child should live with that parent. However, if you remove a child from the country for longer than this without consent, you may be liable to charges of child abduction which can lead to substantial fines and even imprisonment.
Who can apply for parental responsibility?
Every child needs someone with their best interests at heart to be responsible for their welfare. That’s why the law allows people other than biological parents to acquire parental responsibility in a wide variety of circumstances as well as biological parents who have now acquired parental responsibility automatically.
These include:
- Mothers are entitled to automatic parental responsibility
- Fathers who are married or in a civil partnership with the mother have automatic parental responsibility.
- Parental responsibility shared by both parents is not lost where there is a divorce or separation (regardless if they are married or in a civil partnership).
- Unmarried biological fathers: who can gain parental responsibility either by agreeing with the mother; or by applying to the court for a Parental Responsibility Order, or by subsequently marrying the biological mother.
- Stepparents, grandparents, civil partners and same-sex partners: who can acquire parental responsibility either by adopting the child or by being appointed a guardian, usually after someone else with parental responsibility has died.
- Special guardians: who are appointed by a court to ensure a child is looked after and who can over-rule other people with parental responsibility if they think it is necessary
- Local authorities: who acquire parental responsibility, usually after taking a child into care following care proceedings.
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