Unmarried Father Rights
Are you an unmarried father and your relationship has ended with your children’s mother? You as a father may have few legal rights regarding your children unless you have a Parental Responsibility Agreement or a Parental Responsibility Order.
If you have had children after the 1st December 2003 and you were there with your child’s mother signing the birth register you have Parent Responsibility. If you children were born before this date this does not apply. If you don’t have Parent Responsibility you have no right to act on the child’s behalf, choosing what school they will attend, religion they preach, signing a medical consent form for his under 18yr old child, automatically getting the right to look after your child if their mother dies and if the child is put up for adoption. Also an unmarried father cannot get access to his child’s medical records, school records or get a password for his child. He will be entitled to pay Child Support every month for his child.
If you don’t have Parent Responsibility, and your child was born before 1st December 2003 you can log on www.gro.gov.uk for more details were you can add your name if you’re the natural father of the child to their birth certificate. You can also ask the child’s mother to fill in the Parent Responsibility Agreement which can then be witnessed by the court so you as the natural unmarried father of your child has Parent Responsibility.
If your child’s mother disagrees with you adding your name to the birth certificate, you can apply for a Parent Responsibility Order through the court.
The Parent Responsibility Agreement gives both parents married or unmarried equal rights to their child’s upbringing and responsibility. This means the above points mentioned i.e. deciding on schooling, having responsibility if the child’s mother dies etc can be decided by the mother and father.
Click the links below for information on any of the following:
|
