• español
• deutsch

• Contact
• News
• Careers
  • Trainees
  • Placement scheme
• International
  • Forum choice
  • Child abduction and custody
  • Forced marriages
  • Abandoned spouses
• What we do
  • Prenuptial agreements
  • Separation and divorce
  • Cohabitation
  • Children
  • Property
  • Wills, trusts and tax
  • Reported cases
• People
  • Partners
  • Assistants
• Home

• Parental responsibility, residence and contact
• International child abduction and custody disputes
• Wardship
• Forced marriages
• Abandoned spouses
• Grandparents' applications
• Step-parents' rights
• Special guardianship

Children

Parental responsibility, residence and contact

When relationships break down, issues often arise over which parent a child should live with and how often the other parent should see the child.

These disagreements used to be described as disputes about “custody” and “access”, with one of the parents being given day to day “care and control” of the child or children. However, these terms were abolished with the introduction of the Children Act 1989 and the terms now used are parental responsibility, residence and contact.

Parental Responsibility

Both parents automatically have parental responsibility for a child if they were married when the child was born. This means that each of them is legally recognised as having all the rights and duties that parents normally have in relation to a child and that generally they both have to be consulted about major decisions in relation to the child’s upbringing e.g. in relation to education, medical treatment, any change of the child’s name and removal of the child out of the jurisdiction.

If the child’s parents were not married, the mother automatically has parental responsibility. However, the father has parental responsibility as of right if he is named on the birth certificate of the child (after 1st December 2003).  Otherwise the parents can sign a parental responsibility agreement giving the father parental responsibility or he can apply to Court for an order giving it to him.

A step-parent (who is married to one of the parents) can now acquire parental responsibility with the agreement of all those holding parental responsibility or by a court order.

Residence

If a child’s parents cannot agree which of them the child should live with, either parent can apply for a Residence Order. The Court will ask an officer from the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) to meet with the child and both parents and to assess the situation and provide a report. The Court has to make a decision on the basis of what is in the best interests of the child. Shared residence orders are becoming more common as case law develops.

Contact

If a child’s parents cannot agree on how often the parent with whom the child is not living (the non-resident parent) should see the child, that parent can apply to the court for a Contact Order.

The Court can make a general order saying that one parent should have “reasonable contact” with the details left to be agreed by the parents or it can be much more specific, setting out the precise times and dates that contact must take place, including whether and how often the child should stay overnight with the non-resident parent and how much holiday time the child should spend with them.

If there are allegations of abuse or violence, either by one parent towards the other or by one of the parents towards the child, the Court may be asked to decide whether that parent should have any contact with the child at all or whether contact should be supervised. A CAFCASS officer and other experts may be asked by the court to provide reports, depending on the complexity of the issues involved and the nature of any allegations made. Again, the court’s paramount consideration is what is in the child’s best interests.

In addition to Residence and Contact Orders, parents may apply under the Children Act 1989 for the court to decide any specific issue about the child (a Specific Issue Order) e.g. whether the child should undergo specific medical treatment or which school they should attend, or the parent may apply for an order preventing the other parent from taking a particular course of action in relation to the child (a Prohibited Steps Order) e.g. forbidding the other parent from removing the child from his or her home or school or from the jurisdiction without consent.

Sometimes it may be appropriate for the child, either by themselves or through a guardian or another competent adult to take proceedings themselves for orders under the Children Act 1989.

If you would like advice or further information about parental responsibility, residence and contact please contact: -

John Cornwell
Peter Clark
Russell Bywater
Rhiannon Lewis
Kate Allen
Anne-Marie Hutchinson OBE
Helen Kings

Click here for useful links