Website of the UK government

What is parental responsibility?

While the law does not define in detail what parental responsibility is, the following list sets out the key roles:

• providing a home for the child
• having contact with and living with the child
• protecting and maintaining the child
• disciplining the child
• choosing and providing for the child's education
• determining the religion of the child
• agreeing to the child's medical treatment
• naming the child and agreeing to any change of the child's name
• accompanying the child outside the UK and agreeing to the child's emigration, should the issue arise
• being responsible for the child's property
• appointing a guardian for the child, if necessary
• allowing confidential information about the child to be disclosed

Who has parental responsibility?

A mother automatically has parental responsibility for her child from birth. However, the conditions for fathers gaining parental responsibility varies throughout the UK.

For births registered in England and Wales

In England and Wales, if the parents of a child are married to each other at the time of the birth, or if they have jointly adopted a child, then they both have parental responsibility. Parents do not lose parental responsibility if they divorce, and this applies to both the resident and the non-resident parent.

This is not automatically the case for unmarried parents. According to current law, a mother always has parental responsibility for her child. A father, however, has this responsibility only if he is married to the mother when the child is born or has acquired legal responsibility for his child through one of these three routes:

• (from 1 December 2003) by jointly registering the birth of the child with the mother
• by a parental responsibility agreement with the mother
• by a parental responsibility order, made by a court

Living with the mother, even for a long time, does not give a father parental responsibility and if the parents are not married, parental responsibility does not always pass to the natural father if the mother dies.

All parents (including adoptive parents) have a legal duty to financially support their child, whether they have parental responsibility or not.

For births registered in Scotland

A father has parental responsibility if he is married to the mother when the child is conceived, or any time after that date. An unmarried father has parental responsibility if he is named on the child's birth certificate (from 4 May 2006). Alternatively, unmarried fathers can also be named following a re-registration of the birth.

For births registered in Northern Ireland

A father has parental responsibility if he is married to the mother at the time of the child's birth. If a father marries the mother after the child's birth, he has parental responsibility if he lives in Northern Ireland at the time of the marriage. An unmarried father has parental responsibility if he is named, or becomes named, on the child's birth certificate from 15 April 2002.

For births registered outside the UK

If a child is born overseas and then comes to live in the UK, the parental responsibility rules apply for the UK country in which they live – that is the rules for England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

• Parental responsibility in Scotland - find out more Opens new window

Applying to the courts for parental responsibility

A father can apply to the court to gain parental responsibility. In considering an application from a father, the court will take the following into account:

The court will then decide to accept or reject the application based on what it believes is in the child's best interest.

• Find local courts in England and Wales Opens new window

• Find a local court in Scotland Opens new window

• Find a local court in Northern Ireland Opens new window

More useful links

• Registering life events (government, citizens and rights section)

• Where to get legal advice (government, citizens and rights section)

• Gingerbread - support network for one parent families Opens new window

• National family and parenting institute Opens new window

Useful contacts

• Parents contacts