Parental Responsibility and Unmarried Fathers

Parental Responsibility is what gives a parent (or step-parent) legal rights and responsibility for a child and therefore authorises them to make decisions about a child’s upbringing.

The following persons automatically have Parental Responsibility of a child:

01.

The mother

02.

A father who is married to the child’s mother at the time the child is born or later marries the childs’ mother

03.

A father who is registered after 1 December 2003 on the child’s birth certificate

04.

A person who adopts a child

A person such as an unmarried father not named on the birth certificate or a grandparent in certain circumstances can acquire Parental Responsibility by consent of those other persons with Parental Responsibility or by Order of the Court. If Parental responsibility is obtained by consent of the persons who have parental responsibility then a formal Agreement would need to be prepared and approved by the court

If you have parental responsibility, your most important roles are to:

01.

provide a home for the child

02.

protect and maintain the child

03.

disciplining the child

04.

choosing and providing for the child’s education

05.

agreeing to the child’s medical treatment

06.

naming the child and agreeing to any change of name

07.

looking after the child’s property

Parents have to ensure that their child is supported financially, whether they have parental responsibility or not.

If you have parental responsibility for a child who does not live with, you do not necessarily have a right to contact with them - but the other parent still needs to keep you updated about their well-being and progress.