Parental Responsibility 1989

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Recommended: The Children Act 1989/2004

Parental Responsibility and the law surrounding this fundamental concept has been at the forefront of much consideration since its enactment in the Children Act 1989. Although the 21st century has been subjected to significant changes in relation to family law, there is still much controversy surrounding the standing of the unmarried father and the rights and responsibilities obtainable to him when it comes to his child. The focus of the essay is to critically analyse the current law surrounding parental responsibility in particular it will include a detailed discussion on whether the law should be adapted to automatically allocate parental responsibility to all fathers irrespective of their marital status. The current law in England and Wales …show more content…

The definition indicates that unless a person is in possession of parental responsibility they will have no authority over a child and as a result will be unable to exercise any rights when it comes to making and being consulted about important decisions regarding the welfare and upbringing. It is for this reason that problems can arise as not all parents are automatically awarded equal parental responsibility regardless of whether they are a legal parent. As the law currently stands, automatic parental responsibility is only granted to the birth mother , irrespective of whether she is married to the father of her child or not, and to the father who is married to the mother of his child at the time of the birth . The unmarried father on the other hand, has other provisions available to him in order for him to obtain his parental responsibility over the child these are contained in Section 4 of Children Act 1989. The first option available to him would be to marry the mother of his child. If this was to happen, the father would gain parental responsibility from the date of the marriage. Secondly, if the unmarried father registers as the father of the child alongside the mother he will acquire parental responsibility. This provision wasn’t included in the original legislation and was implemented on the 1st December 2003 therefore it only applies to registrations on or after this date. The first two options mentioned are only available to the unmarried father with the agreement of the mother. Thirdly, the mother and father of the child can make a ‘parental responsibility agreement’ which allows him to have parental

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