As a step-parent, you may be very involved in the day-to-day lives of your step-children and you and your partner may have had discussions about taking a more formal role in the children’s lives.
What is parental responsibility?
Parental responsibility is defined as all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and his property. It therefore covers everything to do with raising a child, including all significant decisions such as choosing which school they attend, their religion or consenting to medical treatments. It has been described in case law as the duties that a parent owes to a child.
Who has parental responsibility?
Parental responsibility will usually be shared by a child’s biological parents. A mother automatically has parental responsibility for a child. A father gains parental responsibility if they are married to the mother at the date of the child’s birth, or if they are named on the birth certificate.
How can a step-parent gain parental responsibility?
A step-parent can acquire parental responsibility, either by agreement from all those who already have parental responsibility or court order, where they are married to a person who already has parental responsibility for a child.
Making an application to Court to gain parental responsibility?
Assuming that agreement cannot be reached, an application would need to be made to the Court. The Court’s paramount consideration in determining any applications for parental responsibility by a step-parent, is the child’s welfare.
In relation to applications for step-parents seeking to gain parental responsibility, the Court’s would look at the following factors:
- The degree of commitment the step-parent has shown towards the child;
- The degree of attachment to the child; and
- The reasons for the application.
What happens if you are separating from the child’s parent?
The law which provides for step-parents to gain parental responsibility is intended to provide an alternative to adoption. It has the advantage of not removing parental responsibility from the other birth parent or legally separating the child from that family. It is therefore expected that any such applications would be made by an incoming step-parent, wishing to bring up a child together with the parent who already has parental responsibility and where you will be centrally participating in the upbringing of the child in the future. Any other situations in which the Court may make an order for a step-parent to gain parental responsibility will be limited.
It is therefore not possible to make an application to gain parental responsibility if you are already divorced from the child’s parent who holds parental responsibility. You are also unlikely to succeed on the application if your marriage to the child’s parent who holds parental responsibility has broken down.
What happens if you gain parental responsibility as a step-parent?
Anyone who holds parental responsibility does so equally i.e. no one person with parental responsibility has priority or dominance over anyone else with parental responsibility. Therefore, if you gain parental responsibility as a step-parent, you may be sharing this duty with, potentially, another person who is not your spouse. Everyone with parental responsibility has to agree important decisions regarding a child’s upbringing, for example the things listed above in this blog. If agreement cannot be reached, the Court will have to make a decision.
The dynamics held by those who already have parental responsibility may therefore be an important factor to consider, before making the application for parental responsibility.
Next Steps
If you would like to discuss anything raised in this article, or would like to seek advice specific to your circumstances, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
