Parental Responsibility is the legal term which refers to all the rights and responsibilities of a parent. All Mothers have Parental Responsibility for their children. All married Fathers also have Parental Responsibility as do any Fathers that are named on the birth certificate for children born on or after .
Fathers not named on the birth certificate or unmarried Fathers of children born prior to can obtain Parental Responsibility by entering into a formal agreement with the Child’s Mother, or by Order of the Court.
Only parents with Parental Responsibility can make major decisions about a child’s future. For example, Parental Responsibility is needed to authorise medical treatment for a child, to change a child’s name or to decide about where a child should be educated.
