In UK family law, generally speaking an individual person with parental responsibility can make decisions about the child on their own, if need be. In fact, there are also many decisions which may be made by someone who is simply looking after a child. The Children Act 1989 says that any person who has care…
Here is what the Judges have said in favour of parental responsibility:Lord Justice Balcombe (in Re G (A Minor) (Parental Responsibility Order) 1994 1 FLR 504): “The purpose of a parental responsibility order is to give the unmarried father a ‘locus standi’ in the child’s life by conferring on him the rights which would have…
In any decisions about what is right for a child, the welfare of the child is paramount. The court must consider the ‘welfare checklist’. It must consider:- • the ascertainable wishes and feelings of the child in light of his age and understanding; • the physical, emotional and educational needs; • the likely effect on…
Parental responsibility only lasts as a legal concept until the child is 18 or if the child marries between 16 & 18, on marriage or until an adoption order is made. A mother will always have parental responsibility until the child is 18 unless an adoption order is made. A married father is in the…
Parental responsibility is defined in the Children Act 1989 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’. Cases decided by the courts have given us some idea of what this means. • making choices about a child’s…
Yes: for example – Parents who are married both have parental responsibility. A local authority is given parental responsibility when a care order is made but the mother (and maybe the father) will continue to have parental responsibility along with the local authority. The local authority will be in the driving seat, however, and can…
This is the first in a series of posts about parental responsibility. Who Has Parental Responsibility in UK family law? The mother of a child always has parental responsibility. This can only be removed if a child is adopted or placed for adoption under a a placement order. The married father of a child has…
So what are the ideas which the system’s critics are coming up with? I am going to start to collect them up here and then comment on them in detail in separate posts. I would love to hear of any others but here are a few I have found:* Media access to all family courts;*…
Recent research by a team of psychologists led by Dr Kristin Heffernan has found that mother certainly doesn’t think she knows best. Present day mothers apparently trust “expert” medical advice more than their own instincts. They might be comforted to read what Levitt & Dubner say in Freakonomics about what makes the perfect parent (see…
As if deliberately to undermine my point yesterday about pools versus guns, in today’s Times is a report of a Manchester mother appearing in court charged with posssessing a pistol after her 12 year old daughter was shot dead at her home in April. A 17 year old boy is charged with the girl’s murder.…
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