We have dealt with a number of children cases recently where issues surrounding Parental Responsibility (or “PR”) have arisen, particularly due to one or both parents not fully realising or understanding their responsibilities. This in turn has caused conflict, leading to our involvement.
PR is defined in law under the Children Act 1989 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.’
People with parental responsibility are entitled to have a say in major decisions about the child, such as:
- where the child should live
- where they should go to school
- what religion they should practice
- what name they should have
- the giving or withholding of medical treatment
- dealing with their money or property
Parental responsibility does not entitle someone to interfere with day-to-day decisions such as what the child wears, their hobbies or choice of TV programmes etc.
Parental responsibility lasts until the child reaches 18 or marries between the ages of 16 and 18; though in practice the Court will not usually interfere once a child is 16 or above unless the child is vulnerable and/or at risk.
Where two or more people have PR, they are expected to consult with each other about those decisions and agree matters for the child. It is not for one person to make unilateral decisions, unless of course it involves an emergency situation such as medical treatment. If all the people with PR cannot agree, ultimately the Court can be involved and an Order made.
So, who has PR?
A child’s mother automatically has PR and a father who is married or in a civil partnership with the child’s mother when the child is born will automatically have PR. A child’s father can also acquire PR by
marrying or entering into a civil partnership with the mother after the child’s birth. PR is not lost on divorce.
Fathers of children born after 1 December 2003 who are not or have not been married to the child’s mother will have PR if they are named on the birth certificate of the child.
Certain court orders can confer PR for a child; for example, a parental order after surrogacy for a same sex couple, will also automatically grant PR. A person obtaining PR through a court order does not have to
be a biological parent of the child.
Going to Court
The Court can make an Order but this is not straightforward and many months can pass between an application being made to the Court and an Order made.
I have highlighted many times in these articles the effect of conflict on children. Every effort should be made to reach an agreement and to be entirely child focused during the discussions about the issue that has arisen.
The best outcome for your child(ren) is for their parents to make the decision(s) needed for them, not a Judge in a Court room. The various dispute resolution options available should be pursued first, rather than an application to the Court which must be the option of last resort.
If I can help you further with these issues, please contact me or my colleague, Deepika, at JLS.
Justine