Introduction
Who’s your daddy?
Visualise the sleeping new-born on Instagram stories. The parents are goofing off and smiling at their new bundle of joy. The law rarely questions parental responsibility as part of everyday parenting.
However, it is when parents separate (and get married again) that the having and exercising of parental responsibility becomes quite meaningful. Parenting is a sacred duty, and it is the decisions taken by fathers and mothers that help shape a child.
This blog looks at some of the deeper aspects of parental responsibility in the eyes of the law.
So, what is parental responsibility?
A set of rules and duties toward children
Parents usually share equal parental responsibility, and it includes crucial decision-making over the child’s care and upbringing and spending time with them. A more formal definition involves the ‘legal rights, responsibilities and authority over a child.’
In practical terms, some of these responsibilities and decisions may include:
- Custody, supervision, and caring for children
- Protection – both physical and psychological
- Provision – from food to educational opportunities
- Deciding where the children will live
- Agreeing to health care – consenting to operations or medical treatment
- Passing on religious beliefs
Who has parental responsibility?
The mother comes first
First in line are the child’s biological parents. A mother is automatically responsible for her child from birth. In contrast, a father does not get the right routinely. He has the right of parental responsibility only if he is legally married to the mother when the child is born.
Should the mother be a minor, a guardian would be appointed, and the mother can get parental responsibility once she becomes a major.
A single mother can marry again, and the new dad must apply to the court if he wants joint responsibility for her kid. If the man wasn’t married before, he can gain parental responsibility if he is named the father on the child’s birth certificate.
Grandparents can also accept parental responsibility, or the court can give it to an outside agency. Only a judge can decide on this.
Of course, parents can give someone else parts of their parental authority at times, such as when the kids are at school or under the supervision of a babysitter.
‘I want parental responsibility.’
It is easy to fall in love with a child! Circumstances may arise when a person unrelated to a child wants to take parental responsibility for them.
There are the three main ways that it can be done:
- By agreement. For instance, a stepparent can sign an agreement to be enabled to make day-to-day decisions about a stepchild without being a legal parent.
- If the parties can reach no agreement, a person can apply for a court order.
- You can also adopt the child. However, the adoption process can be complicated, especially if the birth parent(s) contest the process.
The ultimate decision power lies with the courts, and they will always take the child’s best interests into account.
What happens when parents break up?
Both parents are still responsible.
The basic rule of thumb is that biological parents have parental responsibility whether or not they are married or living together. Therefore, even if only one of the parents has custody of the children, the other parent still has parental authority and responsibility. (‘Custody’ only means where the children live.)
The only difference is that the parent with custody takes responsibility for the child every day, whereas the other parent parents from a distance and must still be consulted on all significant decisions. Important decisions might include a choice of school or decisions about long-term extramural activities that might have cost implications.
Why does parental responsibility matter?
It matters on two fronts.
- It matters to the child: Every child has the right to know his parents and to be cared for by them.
- It should matter to the parent: Parental responsibility in the legal sense guarantees that you can have a say in your child’s future and the essential aspects of their life.
For instance, if you are a father without parental responsibility, you won’t be able to prevent a child’s removal to another country or if someone wants to adopt the child. You won’t be able to authorise any medical treatment for the child or even manage any money that they have inherited.
Can parents be punished if they don’t take responsibility for their children?
You cannot sidestep parental responsibility.
Parental responsibility laws in the UK can have punitive and educational sanctions.
In most cases, failing to tend to children is a misdemeanor, and a person can be charged with the crime.
For example, parents are responsible for their children’s education. Failure to send children to school can get you fined or prosecuted. The courts might order some parents into mandatory parenting skills training rather than jail time.
Does parental delinquency cause juvenile delinquency?
Then there is the issue of parental liability, which is a bit out of the scope of this blog about parental responsibility.
However, it is sufficient to say that parents can be held accountable also for crimes committed by underage children. The law states that parents can be punished for what they haven’t done rather than what they have done. If they haven’t fulfilled their parental duty by failing to exercise proper control over a child, they can be charged. For example, should a child cause an accident with a vehicle belonging to a parent, and someone gets injured, the parent will be held responsible.
Opponents argue that it is unfair to expect parents to be able to supervise children at all times. Increased work hours and multiple jobs mean that parents can’t always be everywhere, and therefore, there is an injustice within parent culpability. However, the prosecution of adults for neglectful parenting is new, so the jury is still out on this one!
Losing your parental responsibility
Giving up on a child
A parent can decide to give up the responsibility of looking after a child voluntarily. A teenage mother, for example, can choose to give her child up for adoption.
The court can terminate responsibility.
UK courts will always have the child’s welfare at heart and can terminate parental responsibility involuntary, for instance, where the child was abandoned or chronically abused. Children can also be taken away from mentally ill parents, where there is long-term substance abuse, or if it can be proven that the parents cannot provide for the child’s most basic needs.
However, child welfare will try to preserve the family and reunite them in due course through services such as parenting classes or family therapy. The child will be kept safe in a foster home until then, although the outcome might be the termination of parental responsibility if all else fails.
Interesting parental responsibility court cases
Removal of parental responsibility: C v D and another (2018) EWHC 3312 (Fam)
The child’s mother wanted to remove the father’s parental responsibility. The child was six years old. The couple had a relationship for two years, but it ended soon after the child’s birth. The dad had parental responsibility by being registered on the birth certificate, but the child (who had special needs) spent very little time with him. Even so, the father was intimidating and controlling and would interfere with the child’s care and schooling. He wrote deeply unpleasant emails and referred to the child’s special needs in a highly offensive manner. As a result, he had even been banned from the child’s school.
The court said that the circumstances wherein it will terminate parental responsibility are rare, but in this case, it was justified as the father would continue to use his ‘responsibility’ in a way that was detrimental to the child’s welfare – and it will increase in the future. It was, therefore, in the child’s best interests to terminate the father’s parental responsibility.
A reluctant mother: P [1986] 1 FLR 272, Butler-Sloss J
A teenage girl became pregnant for the second time, her former baby being born just the previous year. She wanted an abortion, but her parents wanted to take care of the new baby, together with the existing one. The judge commended them for wanting to do so but said the girl’s needs were paramount. Therefore, termination would be in the girl’s best interests, and he made the order accordingly.
Conclusion
It is not easy being a parent
The responsibility of becoming a parent comes instinctively for many of us. However, the law is needed when parental instincts do not take precedence or when parents are separating. It can be hard to know what to do.
Luckily, the legislative system makes laws to secure and protect the future of the child when the parental relationship is disturbed. This is what parental responsibility laws are all about.
You can also view our other blog – Parental Responsibility: The parent with a learning disability
Do you have any questions about your parental responsibility, or are you concerned about the behaviour of a previous or current partner? You can talk to our family law team, we’d be happy to help! You can also read more about child arrangements.
