On Friday 15th January, Fiona Wood’s blog highlighted the importance for the unmarried father who is not named on the birth certificate to acquire Parental Responsibility by agreement or by court order if he wishes to be endowed with status allowing him a voice in the major decisions in his child’s life.
The importance of Parental Responsibility is not just relevant to decision making during the mother’s life but also to a father’s legal standing in the child’s life in the event of the mother’s premature death.
A mother can choose and appoint another individual to be the child’s guardian and to stand in loco parentis on her death. In circumstances where the father does not have Parental Responsibility such an appointment will take effect and confer Parental Responsibility on that individual immediately on the mother’s death.
The father would, of course, be able to apply to the court for Parental Responsibility, Residence and such other Orders as maybe necessary but the court will determine the issues on the basis of what is in the best interests of the child from a welfare perspective.
As highlighted in the recent case of Re B (referred to in the 1st December Blog), unmarried fathers can not rely on their biological links with a child as the trump card in such applications.
It is not just fathers who need to be aware of very the significant obligations of Parental Responsibility. Where there is a surviving parent endowed with Parental Responsibility prior to the mother’s death, the mother’s testamentary appointment will not take effect.
Mothers and Fathers may have been separated for years, acrimony or circumstance may have resulted in them losing touch. The mother may think that by directing the appointment of a guardian in her will she has secured the best future care of her children. In fact, she will leave such a person with the task of tracking down the father and seeking the Court’s endorsement of the mother’s belief that they can provide the best upbringing for the children.
Parental Responsibility is not a badge which can be taken off or taken away when it suits. It is a commitment bestowed for life and as such prospective unmarried mothers and fathers should consider carefully, fully and with advice if necessary before they accept all the implications that go with the title.
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