Parental responsibility

This is information, not legal advice

This explains how parental responsibility generally works in England & Wales. It can’t tell you what to do in your situation. Use the official links at the bottom and get advice from a solicitor or regulated service for your own case.

Parental responsibility (PR) is the legal term for all the rights, duties and powers a parent has for their child. In plain terms, having PR means you’re legally recognised as a parent who has a say in the big decisions about your child’s life, and a duty to care for and protect them.

It is one of the most misunderstood things in family law, so it’s worth getting straight early.

The big myth to clear up first

Parental responsibility is not the same as seeing your child, and it’s not the same as paying maintenance. These are three separate things:

• PR gives you a say in the major decisions (school, medical, passport, and so on).
• Where the child lives and the time they spend with you is a separate question, decided by agreement or a child arrangements order.
• Child maintenance is separate again, and you owe it whether or not you have PR.

So being on the birth certificate doesn’t, by itself, give you a “right” to contact. Paying maintenance doesn’t prove you have PR. And having PR doesn’t let you overrule the other parent on everything. Keep the three apart in your head and a lot of confusion falls away.

What having PR lets you do

With PR you’re entitled to be involved in the important decisions, including:

• which school your child goes to, and getting school reports and being told about parents’ evenings;
• consenting to medical treatment, and seeing their medical records;
• their religious upbringing;
• registering or agreeing a change to their name;
• applying for a passport, and agreeing to them being taken abroad.

What PR does not give you is control over day-to-day life in the other parent’s home. If the child doesn’t live with you, you can’t use PR to dictate routine things like meals or bedtimes at their mum’s. PR is about the big decisions, shared between everyone who holds it.

Who has parental responsibility automatically

• The mother: always, automatically, from birth.
• A father married to or in a civil partnership with the mother when the child is born: automatically (whether the marriage was before or after the birth).
• An unmarried father: automatically if he’s named on the birth certificate and the birth was jointly registered, for children born on or after 1 December 2003 in England & Wales.
• A second female parent: automatically if she was married to or in a civil partnership with the mother at the time of conception (with some exceptions).
• Step-parents: do not get PR automatically, even after marrying a parent.

A useful point: more than two people can hold PR for the same child at once. Each can usually act alone on everyday things, but the big decisions are meant to be agreed between all of them.

Note

For children born before 1 December 2003, an unmarried father being on the birth certificate did not by itself give PR. Most separated dads with young children today are covered by the post-2003 rule, but if your child is older, check your position.

If you don’t have PR, how to get it

There are a few routes:

1. Re-register the birth to add you, if no other man is named and the mother agrees.
2. A parental responsibility agreement with the mother. You both complete form C(PRA1), sign it at a local family court with the child’s birth certificate and your photo ID, and send it to the Principal Registry of the Family Division. There’s no court fee to register a PR agreement.
3. A parental responsibility order from the court, used where the mother doesn’t agree. You apply on form C1. The court fee is currently £263 (help with fees is available on a low income), and the court decides based on the child’s welfare.
4. A child arrangements order. If the court makes an order saying the child lives with you, it must also give you PR. If the order says the child spends time with you, the court may give you PR.

Step-parents and second female parents can also get PR by agreement (with the consent of everyone who already has it) or by court order.

When you can’t agree a decision

Because PR is shared, the big decisions are meant to be agreed. When two PR holders genuinely can’t agree, either can ask the court to decide:

• a specific issue order asks the court to settle a particular question (for example, which school, or permission for a trip abroad);
• a prohibited steps order asks the court to stop the other parent doing something (for example, removing the child from the country or changing their name).

As always, court is the last resort. Mediation first.

Schools and doctors in practice

If you have PR, the school should keep you informed, send you reports, and tell you about parents’ evenings and events, even if the child doesn’t live with you. If that’s not happening, write to the school and ask to be added to its records (there’s a ready-made letter in the templates library). Doctors should let you consent to treatment and access your child’s records.

Where to get real help

• GOV.UK: parental rights and responsibilities: who has PR and how to apply, with the official forms.
• Child Law Advice (Coram): a clear explanation of PR and who holds it.
• AdviceNow: free, plain-English guides, including how to get PR without a lawyer.
• CAFCASS: applying for an order that gives you PR.

Last reviewed: 9 June 2026. Court fees and forms change, so check the official links above for the current figures and process before you rely on anything here.