Parental Responsibility

Parental Responsibility means broadly the rights you would expect a parent to have with regard to a child – including the right to decide where a child lives, on medical treatment and on any change to a child’s name. A mother automatically has Parental Responsibility. A father, however, only has Parental Responsibility either if he is married to the mother, is granted a Parental Responsibility Order by the Court or the mother agrees to make a Parental Responsibility Agreement (which needs to be formally registered) – or if, since December 1st 2003, he was identified as father on the child’s birth certificate.

Court Orders

There are a various Orders the Court can make about children when dealing with divorce, but the principal four are:

• Residence Order – i.e. where a child lives (previously know as ‘custody’).
• Contact Order – i.e. when and how a child sees the parent with whom s/he is not living (previously known as ‘access’).
• Specific Issue Order –allowing the Court to determine an important matter  e.g. on a child’s medical treatment, schooling or religious upbringing.
• Prohibitive Steps Order –  allowing the Court to stop a parent doing something that they might otherwise be entitled to, e.g. stop a parent taking a child out of the country without permission of the Court or coming into contact with someone that the Court feels is unsuitable.

In considering these Orders the Children Act ensures that the welfare of the child is the paramount consideration i.e. not what is best for the parent but what is best for the child. The Children Act sets out a list of factors for the Court to consider including:

• The child’s wishes and feelings.
• The child’s physical, emotional and educational needs.
• The likely effect on the child of a change in their circumstances.
• The child’s age, sex and background.
• Any harm which the child has suffered or is at risk of suffering.
• How capable are the parents and any other relevant person of meeting the child’s needs.

The Court has an obligation to make no Order about a child unless they think that making an Order is better for the child than making no Order.

As in all family law matters our Family Solicitors strongly advise parents to try to reach agreement for the sake of the child. We will assist as far as possible in trying to reach a satisfactory agreement without the need of a Court application . Hopwever if a Court application proves necessary we will represent you with sensitivity. Our experienced children Solicitors deal with a wide variety of childrens cases from grandparent contact to international child abduction. You may also want to consider our family mediation service.

For legal advice from an expert family solicitor,contact our Salisbury, Andover, Warminster, Verwood or Amesbury offices today.