WHAT IS PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY?  AND WHO HAS IT?

The Children Act 1989 defines parental responsibility for a child as: " all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to that child and his or her property". A person who has parental responsibility has the legal authority to act in relation to a child in such matters as education, medical care, where the child has to live, what surname the child is to have and all other aspects of upbringing and welfare of the child.

If the child is legitimate (or has been legitimated, or adopted), the parents (incl. adopting parents) will each have parental responsibility and both may appoint guardians for the child in the event of their deaths. Previously, the mother automatically had parental responsibility but an unmarried father could only acquire parental responsibility either by agreement with the mother, or by obtaining an order from the Court. The Court would normally grant an unmarried father parental responsibility, provided he could show his commitment to the child(ren), for example, by having regular contact.

However, from lst December 2003 the law changed. The father of a child who is not married to the mother acquires parental responsibility for that child if he is registered as the father in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953. This change in law only applies to births registered on or after lst December 2003 (irrespective of the date of birth of the child). The law remains unchanged for births registered prior to lst December 2003.

Both parents can exercise their parental responsibility independently of the other without first having to obtain the consent of the other parent. In practice the parent with the care of the child will make the day to day decisions in respect of that child. If you are a father of a child whose birth was registered prior to 1st December 2003 you may acquire parental responsibility (and therefore be able to appoint a guardian)either through a court order granting you parental responsibility or by enteringinto a parental responsibility agreement with the child's mother. 

The Parental Responsibility Agreement must be prepared in accordance with the law and the agreement must contain certain prescribed information, signed by both parents and witnessed at Court by a JP or court official. The evidence of the child's identity and birth certificate must also be supplied. The Agreement will only take effect once it has been filed at the Principal Registry of the Family Division in London and the agreement can only be brought to an end by a court order. A Parental Responsibility Agreement can only be with an unmarried father and not with any other family member.

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