Whether you’re a parent, guardian or legal caregiver, you will have very specific rights and responsibilities over the dependent child under UK law. Parental Responsibility is defined as “all rights, duties, powers and responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and his property” under Section 3 (1) Children Act 1989. This Parental Responsibility will usually end when the child reaches 18 years old.
If you are wondering how to navigate parental rights, as well as seek information regarding the matter, our guide will provide some helpful pointers on where to do so. Understandably, ascertaining yours or another’s parental rights can take a toll on your wellbeing, so we’ll signpost where you can get support for this too.
What does parental responsibility consist of?
Parental responsibility is commonly accepted to include, but is not limited to the following important decisions:
• Providing a home for the child
• Protecting and maintaining the child
• To ensure the child receives appropriate education
• To consent to medical treatment or obtain appropriate treatment for the child
• To name/ change name of the child
• Consenting to taking the child abroad
• Ensure that the children are supported financially
In cases of separated parents, day to day routine decisions should usually be taken by the resident parent or the person with whom the child lives with at the time. However, both parents must be including where major decisions are being made, such as taking children abroad.
Parents can choose to agree these matters informally through their private communication and then put any of these agreements in writing for both parties to sign.
In situations where both parents with Parental Responsibility cannot agree on a decision, family mediation is encouraged to help them reach an agreement amicably. If mediation is unsuccessful, either parent can apply for a Child Arrangements Order, Specific Issue Order or a Prohibited Steps Order requesting the court to hear their case and make a final decision.
• Child arrangements order - used to agree access to the children.
• Specific Issue Order - used to asked court to make a decision about a specific query such as allowing the child to go abroad.
• Prohibited Steps Order – used to ask the court to prevent the other parent from doing something such as changing schools.
The court will make a decision, taking into consideration the best interests of the children.
Related article: Supporting Employees in Single Parent Households
Who had parental responsibility?
A moth er automatically has Parental Responsibility for her child from birth. A father usually has Parental Responsibility for the child if he married to or was in a civil partnership with the child’s mother when the child was born or jointly adopted a child. They will both keep the Parental Responsibility if they later divorce.
Where individuals are not married, a father can obtain Parental Responsibility in one of the following ways:
• Jointly registering the birth of the child with the mother (from 1 December 2003) and therefore having both names on the birth certificate
• Getting a parental responsibility agreement with the mother
• Getting a parental responsibility order from a court
For same-sex civil partners, both will have Parental Responsibility if they were civil partners at the time of the donor insemination or fertility treatment.
For same-sex partners who are not civil partners, the second parent can get Parental Responsibility by either:
• Applying for parental responsibility if a parental agreement was made
• Becoming a civil partner of the other parent and making a parental responsibility agreement
• Jointly registering the birth.
It is important to note that grandparents and stepparents do not automatically have Parental Responsibility or rights to access children.
Applying for parental responsibility
If you are a father who wants Parental Responsibility and the mother agrees, fill in a parental responsibility agreement form and take it to a local family court where it can be signed and witnessed.
If you are not the mother, you can apply to the court to get Parental Responsibility. You would need to be connected to the child. To apply you will need to fill in a C1 application form which can be found on the gov.uk website and send the completed form to your local family court. More than two people can have Parental Responsibility for the same child.
The connected person can obtain Parental Responsibility if there is a court order in place which confers Parental Responsibility on them, such as an Adoption Order, Child Arrangements Order for residence or Special Guardianship Order. If you want to find out more about parental rights in relation to adoption, take a look at our previous article; Maternity, Paternity & Adoption rights.
How can an Employee Assistance Programme support with parental rights?
Using HA | Wisdom Wellbeing’s Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), parents, guardians or assigned legal carers who are concerned or confused over legal rights and responsibilities can contact our free legal information line. Available 24/7, 365-days a year, you will be connected with a member of our specialist legal team to provide expert advice.
However, if you are struggling with your mental health, particularly when navigating parental rights for your child, our expert counselling helpline is there to support you whenever you need it. Using solution-based counselling that is available around the clock all year round, our team can support your wellbeing and ensure you are able to deliver the best care possible to your child, as well as manage your own mental health.
This support also extends to children in your care that are struggling with mental health issues. Spouses/partners and children aged 16-24 in full-time education that live in the same household can access our wide range of support to overcome wellbeing challenges.
Conclusion
Parental rights can often be a minefield to navigate, especially while traversing the challenges of raising and caring for a child. Parents, guardians and assigned care givers need to know their rights and legal responsibilities to effectively deliver the necessary levels of care to a child.
It can be draining and take a heavy toll on mental wellbeing. Knowing how to practice self-care as a parent or guardian can help as a starting point to build resilience and look after your wellbeing.
