What you can and can’t do as a parent depends on whether you have parental responsibility for your child.
What are my rights as a parent?
What would you like to know about parental responsibility?
What is parental responsibility?
Someone with parental responsibility for a child has certain rights, duties and responsibilities in the law about how a child is brought up.
They also have the legal power to make important decisions about the child.
If you have parental responsibility, you generally have the power to decide:
where your child goes to school
what kind of education your child has
what kind of medical treatment your child has
whether your child can travel abroad
your child’s religion
who represents your child in court
who your child’s guardian would be if you die
what your child’s surname is
You also have a duty to care and provide for your child.
Fathers, even without parental responsibility, have to make sure their child is supported financially.
Do I have parental responsibility?
Not every parent has parental responsibility for their child.
You have parental responsibility if:
you are the child’s birth mother
- you are the child’s father and
you were married or in a civil partnership with the child’s mother when the child was born
your name is registered (or re-registered) on the child’s birth certificate (after 1 December 2003)
you have a parental responsibility agreement with the mother
you have a parental responsibility order from the court
you have a residence order for the child (before 22 April 2014)
you are named as the resident parent in a child arrangements order
you have adopted the child
you are the guardian or special guardian of the child
you were the same-sex civil partner of the birth mother at the time she conceived through fertility treatment or artificial insemination
you are the egg or sperm donor of the child and have a parental order from the court
How can I get parental responsibility?
If you don't already have parental responsibility, there are ways of getting it.
Fathers
Fathers can get parental responsibility by:
re-registering the birth of the child with the mother’s agreement
getting a parental responsibility agreement with the mother
getting a parental responsibility order from the court
being named as the parent that the child lives with (‘the resident parent’) in a child arrangements order
Step-parents
If you’re married or in a civil partnership with the child’s mother, you can get parental responsibility with:
a parental responsibility agreement with the mother and anyone else with parental responsibility
a parental responsibility order from the court
Other carers and family members
If you have some other connection with the child, you may be able to get parental responsibility by:
being named as the person that the child lives with in a child arrangements order
being appointed guardian or special guardian
adopting the child
getting a parental order from the court if you were the egg or sperm donor of the child
Do I have to put the father on the birth certificate?
If you’re not married or a in a civil partnership with the father, you don’t have to put the father’s name on the birth certificate if you don’t want to.
Registering (or re-registering) a birth certificate with the father’s name gives the father parental responsibility for your child.
As the birth mother, you automatically have parental responsibility for your child.
If you refuse, the father may try to get parental responsibility by applying to the court for a parental responsibility order.
The court will look at the best interests of the child when it decides whether or not to give parental responsibility to the other parent.
Do I have to sign a parental responsibility agreement?
You don’t have to sign a parental responsibility agreement if you don’t want to.
Signing a parental responsibility agreement with a father or step-parent gives them parental responsibility for your child.
As the birth mother, you automatically have parental responsibility for your child.
If you refuse to sign it, the father may try to get parental responsibility by applying to the court for a parental responsibility order.
The court will look at the best interests of the child and the suitability of the other parent when it decides whether or not to give them parental responsibility.
What if we both have parental responsibility but can’t agree on something?
For most day-to-day decisions, the parent who the child lives with (the resident parent) doesn’t need to ask the other parent for permission to do something routine.
For example, you don’t normally need permission from everyone with parental responsibility to let your child go on a school trip.
But for big decisions, such as those about schooling, moving away or your child's religion, you do need permission from everyone with parental responsibility.
If you can’t agree on something, you may need to seek mediation (only if it's safe to do so) or ask the courts to settle it for you with a:
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