Parental Responsibility

Parental responsibility is defined as 'all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child'. The law does not define in detail what parental responsibility is, but direct.gov provides a list of the following key roles that are considered to be a part of parental responsibility:

      • providing a home for the child
      • having contact with and living with the child
      • protecting and maintaining the child
      • disciplining the child
      • choosing and providing for the child's education
      • determining the religion of the child
      • agreeing to the child's medical treatment
      • naming the child and agreeing to any change of the child's name
      • accompanying the child outside the UK and agreeing to the child's emigration, should the issue arise
      • being responsible for the child's property
      • appointing a guardian for the child, if necessary
      • allowing confidential information about the child to be disclosed

                       (direct.gov.uk)

There are two types of Parental Responsibility:

Parental responsibility can be split into sole parental responsibility and shared or joint parental responsibility

Sole Parental Responsibility: In this case just one person has legal responsibility for the child. You do not need anyone else to consent in order to change the name of the child.

Joint Parental Responsibility: In this case two or more people share the legal responsibility for the child. You need the consent of other people with parental responsibility. If they do not give consent, they could contest the change of name at a later stage. In this case it is better to get their consent and avoid potential problems later on.

Whether you have sole parental responsibility or joint parental responsibility, we provide free of charge, templates for both the consent forms and requests for change of name that you can use alongside the child’s change of name Deed Polls.

 The type of parental responsibility held depends upon a number of factors.  They depend upon whether the parents were ever been married, and also on where and when the child’s birth was registered.

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Who is the Mother or Father of the Child?

In law and for the purposes of parental responsibility, the mother of a child is considered to be the woman that has given birth to the child.  The definition of the father of a child is somewhat more complex.

If the mother is married before the child is born, then for the purposes of parental responsibility, unless evidence to the contrary is produced, the legal father of the child is presumed to be the husband of the mother of the child even if he is not the actual biological father of that child.

If the mother is not married then unless evidence to the contrary is produced, the father is presumed to be the person recorded on the child’s birth certificate.

 

Who has parental responsibility?

 

Mother

The mother normally automatically has parental responsibility for her child from the time of birth of the child. This parental responsibility may be sole parental responsibility, or it may be joint if shared with someone else.


Father

If a father is married to the mother at the time of the birth (or at the time of conception in Scotland), or has married the mother at some time since the birth of the child then the father has parental responsibility. He does not lose his parental responsibility for the child if he and the mother divorce, separate or remarry.

Unmarried fathers: If the father was not married to the mother at the time of the birth (or at the time of conception in Scotland) and he has not married the mother at any time since, then he may acquire parental responsibility rights depending on where and when the child’s birth was registered, and if his name was included on the child’s birth certificate:

- Unmarried Father: child's birth registered in England or Wales…
If the child’s birth was registered on or after 1st December 2003 and the father’s name is on the birth certificate, then he has parental responsibility for the child.

If the child’s birth was registered before 1st December 2003 the father does not automatically have parental responsibility even if his name is on the birth certificate. He would only acquire parental responsibility through marriage to the mother, by court order or by signing a Parental Responsibility Agreement with the mother.

- Unmarried father: child's birth registered in Scotland…
If the child’s birth was registered on or after 4th May 2006 and the father was present to register his name on the child’s birth certificate, then he has parental responsibility for the child.

If the child’s birth was registered before 4th May 2006 the father does not have parental responsibility even if his name is shown on the birth certificate. He can acquire parental responsibility by an order of the court or if he signs a Parental Responsibility Agreement with the mother.

- Unmarried father: child's birth registered in Northern Ireland…


For births registered on or after 15th April 2002 the father has parental responsibility if he accompanied the mother to register the birth and was named on the birth certificate as the father.

Where a father has regular and frequent contact with the child, even if he does not have parental responsibility rights, it is best to obtain his consent to the child’s change of name so as to avoid conflict and challenge to the change of the child’s name later. If there is no such contact between the father and the child, the father without parental responsibility is less likely to successfully challenge the change of name of the child through the courts. If you feel that the father may challenge the child’s change of name then you would be best advised to apply to the courts for permission to change your child’s name without the father’s agreement.

 

Step-fathers

A step-father can acquire parental responsibility by order of the court (in England or Wales), or the court can award him a Custody or Residence Order or make him a legal guardian. He also acquires parental responsibility if he adopts the child or signs a Parental Responsibility Agreement with the mother.

If the child’s natural father has parental responsibility, the step-father’s acquisition of parental responsibility is in addition to the natural father, not instead of it.

 

Adoptive parents

Adoptive parents acquire automatic joint parental responsibility when the placement of the child is finalised. They would not need a Deed Poll to change the surname of the child since the adoption papers will cover this for them. If however, they decide to change the child’s name after the adoption process then they will need a Deed Poll to change the child’s name.

 

People other than parents

Any adult who obtains a Residence Order determining where a child will live or any adult who is appointed as a child’s guardian will have parental responsibility rights. These are usually shared with one or both parents.

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Parental Responsibility for Children Residing Outside the UK

The laws of the UK country of birth apply outside the United Kingdom.

If a father has or acquires parental responsibility then his consent would also be required to change the child's name because his parental responsibility would by joint with that of the mother. This would still be the case even if both the parents subsequently separate, divorce or are remarried.  It would also be the case even if the father has no contact whatsoever with the child.

If a father, who has parental responsibility for the child, joint parental responsibility with the mother,  and no longer lives with the mother and child, refuses to give his consent to change his child's name, then the only recourse to the mother would be to apply to the courts for leave (permission) to change the child's name.

The court will give permission if it believes it will be in the child's best interests to allow the change of name for the child. The court would have to take into account the level and degree of commitment of the father to the child.  It would also need to take into account the quality of contact between the father and child to determine whether the link with the father (by shared surname) can be broken. For older children, their view will also be important in deciding whether the change of name should be allowed.