The parental responsibility is not lost by the father when they separate or divorce from the mother. When parents separate ideally an agreement should be reached on co-parenting together, if possible. If parents are unable to reach an agreement, they should consult mediation or legal advice. Quite often assistance from legal advisers could lead to an agreement being made in relation to a father seeing their child. If an amicable agreement cannot be reached, then a father who was married to the mother or named on the birth certificate will need to make an application to the court to obtain fathers rights over child.
No unless there are special circumstances. Neither parent has rights to restrict the other parent from seeing their child. The only exception to this rule is where the welfare of a child may be at risk. If there is a possibility that the child is at risk of harm the mother can stop a father from seeing his child. In such circumstances the mother may restrict access or decide on:.
A mother may restrict access if there is any concerns surrounding the father which relate to drugs, alcohol, criminal behaviour or abuse. A mother can remove a fathers rights over the child if the father is not the biological father of her child. In order for the mother to prevent the father from having any rights the father must also not be named on the birth certificate of the child or have been married to the mother at the time of the birth of the child.
In such a situation a mother can do what is necessary to protect the child. The mother can also go to court and ask for an order to prevent the father from seeing the child. In such circumstances a court may also remove the fathers parental responsibility which would result in the father losing all his rights over the child.
Unmarried fathers do not automatically obtain parental responsibility over a child. They can only obtain parental responsibility if they are named on the birth certificate of the child. If an unmarried father is named on the birth certificate, then they will have the same rights over the child as a mother which extend to contact and access to the child as well as the ability to be consulted on important decisions surrounding the children.
In contrast unmarried fathers who are not named on the birth certificate of a child do not acquire parental responsibility. As a result, they do not need to be consulted when making decisions about the child.
In such situation the father will not have any legal rights in child custody or child arrangement disputes. In order to see his child in these circumstances a father will first need to establish paternity with the courts and obtain parental responsibility before looking to see their child. The only time when a court will not be inclined to assist the fathers contact with the child is where there is a concern surrounding the welfare and safety of the child.
This usually applies where there the father is abusive, or there are issues surrounding drug and alcohol abuse. In such instances the court will usually instruct for Cafcass to carry out safeguarding checks and gather evidence. The courts will then look at all the evidence as well as listening to the father before reaching its decision on awarding child contact to the father.
It is therefore clear that the courts seek to promote an active relationship of the child with both parents. You can apply for parental responsibility if you do not automatically have it. Same-sex partners will both have parental responsibility if they were civil partners at the time of the treatment, eg donor insemination or fertility treatment. For same-sex partners who are not civil partners, the 2nd parent can get parental responsibility by either:.
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Parental Responsibility Parental responsibility is a legal term which encompasses all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which, by law, a parent of a child has in relation to the child and their property.
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