Legal Advice for Obtaining or Removing Parental Rights and Responsibilities.

If you are not automatically entitled to parental responsibility for a child you have several options:

Parental Responsibility Agreement

This is the most straightforward way of obtaining parental responsibility as it doesn’t require applying for a court order. As long as the agreement has the consent of everyone who already has parental responsibility, an official document will simply need to be signed by everyone at the court. This will then be registered and become legally binding, remaining in place until the child turns 18.

Parental Responsibility Order

If you wish to obtain parental responsibility for a child but haven’t got the consent of all those who already have it, you can apply for a court order. To be eligible, you must be connected to the child, as the father, a stepparent or second female parent, for example.

The court will make a decision based on the child’s best interests and will take into consideration the child’s relationship with the applicant, their level of attachment and the reasons for the application.

Unless a child is adopted, parental responsibility cannot be removed from a biological mother and it is extremely rare for it to be removed from a father. The circumstances would need to be exceptional and the court will always prioritise mediation as a way of resolving any issues in the best interests of the child concerned.

Rare but possible justifiable reasons for removing parental responsibility include:

• Abusive behaviour
• Withholding consent for medical treatment
• Adoption

A court will not remove a father’s parental responsibility for any of the following reasons:

• He doesn’t want contact with his child
• His child doesn’t want contact with him
• He won’t pay child maintenance
• He isn’t involved in his child’s life

Where a court believes a father is having a negative impact on his child, they can restrict the father’s involvement by issuing either a Child Arrangements Order or a Prohibited Steps Order to protect the child and limit the role their father has in their life.

For the most part, decisions can be taken for a child by just one person who has parental responsibility, for example consenting to a school trip.

In terms of major decisions such as medical treatment or if one parent wants to move abroad or relocate with their child, where parents cannot agree either one of them can apply to the court for a Specific Issue Order or a Prohibited Steps Order.

Specific Issue Order

The court will grant an order to address one particular issue that a child’s parents cannot agree on. The court will look at the evidence and will make a decision based on the best outcome for the child.

Prohibited Steps Order

If the court believes an action taken by a parent is going to be harmful to a child, such as being removed from the other parent to live abroad, then they can issue a Prohibited Steps Order to prevent the action from being taken. The court must be certain that making the order is better for the child than not making one at all.

In all circumstances, you will first be asked to engage in mediation to see whether it is possible for all those with parental responsibility to come to an agreement, without the need for court action, which can be both stressful and costly. We are renowned for our expertise in collaborative law and can help you with the negotiations at this stage.