Unmarried Dads get new rights over their children

Added: (Fri Jan 30 2004)

Pressbox (Press Release) - Unmarried Dads get new rights over their children

New unmarried fathers got some good news on 1 December 2003.

From this date the law changed giving them new rights, known as “parental responsibility” where they are registered on the birth certificate as their child’s father.

This change, which appears to have been announced very quietly by the Government, will represent a big shift in the way Dad’s are treated by the law.

Many unmarried fathers are often shocked to learn that, in effect, they have no legal rights in law as a parent because there is no Parental Responsibility agreement in place. This was even the case where the child was given his or her father’s surname and the father’s details recorded on the birth certificate.

Parental responsibility is defined in the Children Act 1989 as all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent has in relation to a child and his property. In practice this means having a say in a child’s upbringing. This can include determining a child’s religion or education, naming a child and consenting to medical treatment or adoption.

Under the Children Act, parental responsibility is conferred automatically on the mother of a child, irrespective of her marital status. A married father automatically has parental responsibility. An unmarried father has, until recently, only been able to acquire parental responsibility either by written agreement, making an application to the Court or by marrying the child’s mother. In addition, where a father is granted a “residence order” this confers parental responsibility upon him automatically.

This has now all changed. With effect from 1 December 2003, under S.111 of the new Adoption & Children Act 2002, a father who attends with the child’s mother to register the child’s birth, will automatically acquire parental responsibility. This will put him in the same position as the married father from the outset. Of course, the change in the law is not retrospective and only those registered as their child’s father after 1 December 2003 will acquire PR. Those who are not will have to rely on the previous provisions, namely, obtaining a parental responsibility deed, obtaining an order from the court or marrying the mother.

Mark Keenan, a spokesman for the online family law website www.divorce-online.co.uk says “that the change in the law should make it easier for Dad’s to exersise some of the rights and responsibilities that were denied to them in the past, such as helping to choose children’s schools. Doctors, and other important life events.”

For more information or comment about this press release contact
Mark Keenan
01235 527382
mark.keenan@divorce-online.co.uk