What is “Parental Responsibility”?

“Parental responsibility” is defined under UK law as “all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and his property” (Children Act 1989).

It is parental responsibility which gives you the right to make important decisions about your child, such as chosing or changing their name, electing their religion, and giving consent for emergency medical treatment where needed.

A child's mother is automatically granted parental responsibility; but this is not necessarily the case with the child's father. Married fathers automatically acquire parental responsibility and this is unchanged by later divorce; unmarried fathers do not, but may obtain it: a significant factor in our current society wherein more than one in three children are born outside of wedlock.

To obtain parental responsibility, the unmarried father has a number of choices. He may:

• Marry the mother;
• Have himself registered as the father on the birth certificate;
• Enter into a parental responsibility agreement with the mother;
• Apply to the court for a parental responsibility order;
• Obtain a residence order from  the court;
• Become the child's guardian.

As of December 2003, an unmarried father obtains automatic parental responsibility if his name is registered on his child's birth certificate; and parental responsibility may be obtained by simply re-registering the birth certificate with his name entered as the father.

For registrations prior to December 2003, obtaining responsibility is a little more involved and will require either a parental responsibility agreement, giving the mother's consent, or a parental responsibility order, giving the court's consent.

A parental responsibility agreement puts unmarried parents in the same legal position as married ones. The agreement is legally binding if made out on a court form, signed and witnesssed by court staff and filed in the court. It is basically an agreement on behalf of both parents to share parental responsibility.

A parental responsibility order, however, is applied for by an unmarried father when he cannot come to an agreement with the mother. An application must be made to the family proceedings court, the county court or the High Court. The father's relationship with and his commitment to the child will be looked into by the court as part of the proceedings; such applications are rarely refused. If granted, the parental responsibility order puts the unmarried father in the same legal position as a married one in regards to responsibility for the child.

Unlike a married father, it is possible, under exceptional circumstances, for an unmarried father to have his parental responsibility taken away.

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