Parental Responsibility

  • The Adoption and Children Act 2002 has made some changes to the law regarding parental responsibility. An unmarried father of a child whose birth is reistered after 1 December 2003 obtains parental responsibility providing that he is named on the child’s birth certificate.
  • An unmarried father of a child whose birth was registered before 30 November 2003 has the option to acquire parental responsibility through a voluntary agreement with the mother or a parental responsibility order. Through the court he can additionally acquire parental responsibility through the methods outlined below.
  • Unlike the mother’s parental responsibility, any parental responsiblility given via an order can be ended by the court order being discharged.
  • A parental responsiblility order gives the bearer of the order parental responsiblility.
  • Parental responsiblility can only be ended if the child is adopted or the order is discharged.
  • The only person who can apply for a parental responsiblility order is the unmarried father of the child or a married step-parent.
  • Any person who obtains a residence or special guardianship order obtains parental responsiblility for a child up to the age of 18 years, unless the order is discharged.
  • If the unmarried father marries the mother he will gain parental responsiblility through the ‘presumption of legitimacy’ and would thus be ineligible to apply for the order.
  • An unmarried father is the man who has his name on the child’s birth certificate. If a man not named on the birth certificate claims to be the child’s unmarried father, a court may consider an application for a Section 4 parental responsiblility order.
  • Mothers and father of children can give parental responsiblility to unmarried fathers, or a married step-parent, through the use of a voluntary agreement. Once given, only a court can discharge this agreement.
  • The fatherm, a married step-parent, anyone else with parental responsiblility or the child can apply for this agreement to be discharged.
  • The local authority cannot apply for a father to have parental responsiblility, although it might supporty or recomment it.