All mothers and most cases fathers too have automatically have legal rights and responsibilities as a parent commonly known as ‘parental responsibility’

Under the protocol of parental responsibility your most important duties are to;

• Provide a safe and suitable home your child resides
• Protect and maintain the child safety and wellbeing

Your parental responsibilities do not end just because you are no longer living with them or if you are having no contact with them

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

Unmarried Fathers

If you are an unmarried father, then you can get parental responsibility for your child by;

• Jointly registering the birth of the child with the mother (from 1 December 2003)
• Getting a parental responsibility agreement with the mother
• Getting a parental responsibility order from a court

Same-sex Parents - Civil Partners

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.

Non-civil Partners

For same-sex partners have not legally entered into a civil partnership the other parent can get parental responsibility by either:

·         applying for parental responsibility if a parental agreement was made

·         becoming a civil partner of the other parent and making a parental responsibility agreement or jointly registering the birth

If you have remarried or you have entered into a new realtiuonship your new spouse already has children you can still apply for a parental responsibility order providing your new partner is agreeable.