Fathers and Parental Rights

Married fathers and unmarried fathers have historically been treated differently regarding their rights in relation to their children. All mothers have parental responsibility which is defined in the Children Act as “all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and his property.” In practice the mother is responsible for all major decisions in relation to a child’s life, for example religion, education, medical care etc. If the child’s father is married to the child’s mother he automatically receives parental responsibility. If the child’s father is not married to the mother and the mother will not consent to the father receiving parental responsibility, the father will have to apply for an order for parental rights. This applies whether the fathers name is on the birth certificate or not.

Not having parental rights may not be a huge problem when the parties are living together. If the parties separate the problems become evident for example the child’s name can be changed without reference to the father and the father may not be notified of adoption proceedings.

The Adoption and Children Act 2002 has now changed the above law as of the 1st December 2003. Providing the unmarried fathers name is on the child’s birth certificate he will now automatically acquire parental rights without the need for Court intervention. The act does not specify whether the change is retrospective however it is thought that it is not therefore if your child is born after the 1st Dec 03 the new Act will apply providing the child’s father is named on the birth certificate. If your child was born before the 1st Dec 03 and you are not married you will need to apply for parental rights to place fathers on an equal footing with mothers.