No, unfortunately, that’s wrong.
You could be forgiven for thinking that sharing Parental Responsibility between 2 parents means 50/50 but caring for children is not about percentages and it is not about rights, it’s about responsibilities.
What does Parental Responsibility mean?
Parental Responsibility means the responsibilities that parents share in making sure that children are raised in a safe and loving environment. It means that a child’s welfare is the most important factor because children rely on adults to care for and protect them.
Parental Responsibility and the Law
The Children Act 1989, Section 2 sets out who can have Parental Responsibility.
A Mother who gives birth to a child automatically gets Parental Responsibility. This is the case even with a surrogate.
Parental Responsibility to other parents can be gained in various ways:-
- A Father, who married/has a Civil Partnership with the Mother will gain Parental Responsibility as long as the child was born after marriage.
- An unmarried Father can gain Parental Responsibility by being named on the Birth Certificate. He can also gain Parental Responsibility through an Agreement or Court order.
- A Step-Parent can gain Parental Responsibility through an Agreement or a Court order.
- Any other person who seeks Parental Responsibility for a child can apply to the Family Court for an order which can grant it to them.
What am I responsible for?
The type of things you are responsible for are listed below (but it is not a full list):
1. Protecting a child
2. Providing a safe home for a child
3. Providing food and access to healthy living
4. Giving access to education and development
5. Making decisions about medical care and procedures
6. Managing a child’s behaviour in a safe way
7. Ensuring the child has a suitable name
8. Allowing a child to have access to money or property gifted to them (as a Guardian)
What can’t I do with Parental Responsibility?
As I have said, you do not have rights over children, you have responsibilities but there are a lot of common misconceptions about Parental Responsibility and what it means. Things that are said following a separation or as part of co-parenting make you go on the internet to search for the truth. Here are some searched queries about Parental Responsibility:
1. Just because you are the main carer of children, doesn’t mean that you have rights over the non-resident parent. Unless you are protecting your children from a non-resident parent who is violent or abusive, you cannot stop them from exercising their Parental Responsibility. No one, but the Court has the power to remove a person’s Parental Responsibility.
2. You cannot stop your ex-partner from going on holiday abroad just because you have Parental Responsibility – the parent taking a child on holiday can do so for up to 4 weeks without the consent of the other parent.
3. You do not lose your Parental Responsibility if your ex is in a new marriage – a Step-Parent can gain Parental Responsibility for a child by Agreement or Court order but this does not mean either parent will lose Parental Responsibility.
4. If your baby is born by surrogacy, the person who gave birth will have Parental Responsibility forever. Not necessarily, if you get an Adoption order from the Court following a surrogacy then the person who gives birth will no longer have Parental Responsibility.
5. In a same-sex female couple, only one parent can have Parental Responsibility. Not true, there is a law to protect the second female parent where a child has been born with donor sperm. In fact, in society, the “traditional” mother/father nuclear family is no longer the norm. It is up to the lawmakers to ensure that each parent can exercise Parental Responsibility without judgement.
Parental Responsibility is a term used a lot when I deal with Children Act cases from giving Clients advice through to representation in Court. It is sometimes hard to explain especially when parents believe that sharing Parental Responsibility means 50/50. The one thing to remember about Parental Responsibility is that it is not rights it is responsibilities.
If you need advice about Parental Responsibility, or you need support in trying to agree on an arrangement for children to spend time with both parents then you can Contact me.