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Parental Responsibility

Only a mother, and a father who is married to the mother, or whose name appears on the child’s birth certificate if the birth was jointly registered by the father and the mother after 1st December 2003, or a civil partner, will automatically have parental responsibility for a child under the age of 18.

A father can obtain parental responsibility by agreement or by applying to the Court for a Parental Responsibility Order.

When considering whether to grant parental responsibility, the Court will consider broadly whether the father has shown sufficient commitment to, attachment with, and responsibility for the child. – Parental Responsibility.

The effect of parental responsibility is that it invests all the rights, duties, responsibilities and powers belonging to a parent in the person with parental responsibility.

The person with parental responsibility will have the right, for example, to consent to medical treatment on behalf of a child and will automatically have the right to speak to teachers at school and to see school reports, etc.

A child can only be taken out of the country, whether for a holiday or permanently, with the consent of all people with parental responsibility.