We can assist parents where there are disputes about children after relationship breakdown, whether or not the parents are married.
Parental responsibility governs the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities, and authority in relation to a child:-
- A mother has parental responsibility automatically
- Parental Responsibility is retained even if the parents separate and regardless of who the child lives with
- A father of a child born after 1st December 2003 (who is named on the birth certificate and was present when the birth was being registered) shares it
- Otherwise a father does not acquire it unless the parents of the child are married or the parents enter a Parental Responsibility Agreement or a Court makes a Parental Responsibility Order
- A parent who does not have parental responsibility can request contact with a child
- If they are not given contact, they may apply to the court for an order
- Step-parents can now acquire parental responsibility either by court order or by a Parental Responsibility Agreement
The old concepts of Custody and Access to Children have been replaced since the Children Act 1991 with:-
- Contact Order - to resolve how often and for how long a child should have contact with the parent he or she doesn't live with
- Specific Issue Order - to resolve a particular issue about how a child is to be brought up if the parents can't agree
- Prohibited Steps Order - to prevent a parent with parental responsibility (or someone else) from acting in a particular way towards a child
- Residence Order - to decide where a child should live, if the parents can't agree
An unmarried father:-
- May apply for a specific issue order
- He may also apply for a residence order
In any dispute over a child the Courts will treat the welfare of the child as the paramount consideration, so a Court Order will only be made if it is in the child’s interests.
Please contact us to discuss how our Family Services Team might be able to help you with regards to parental responsibilites.
