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What is PR?
Parental responsibility (PR) is the term we use for what was once parental rights. But it’s not quite the same.
For one thing, not all parents have PR. And some people who are not parents can get PR.
It’s also more about responsible parenting than about parental rights.
The legal bit
The Children Act 1989 says that PR is “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.”
But the Act does not tell us what those rights and responsibilities are.
We know from case law that they include things such as deciding the child’s name, where the child lives, and their religion, education, and medical treatment.
PR holders also have the right to certain information about the child and have a role or status in certain types of court proceedings such as child protection (care and adoption) proceedings.
Who has it?
It’s important to be able to identify who has PR for a child.
Some people get PR automatically without having to do anything. Some people have to take steps to get PR.
Some can lose PR once they have it, and some can’t lose it.
| Do they have PR? | Can they lose it? |
Mothers | Yes | No |
Fathers who are married or in a civil partnership with the mother (even if later divorced, and even if married after child born) | Yes | No |
Mum’s wife or female civil partner | Depends – please seek advice | If she has it, no |
Fathers not married to the mother or in a civil partnership with her | Have to take steps to get it | Yes, can be removed by a judge |
Mum’s unmarried female partner | Depends – please seek advice | Yes, if she has it, can be removed by a judge |
Special guardians | Yes | When special guardianship order ends |
Foster parents | No (the local authority has PR) | - |
Person named in a child arrangements order as someone the child lives with | Yes, this comes as part of the order | When lives-with order comes to an end If they are a parent, it is not lost when the order comes to an end |
Person named in a child arrangements order as someone the child spends time (contact) | Court can give it to them | Yes, if they have it, it can be lost by court order If they are a parent, it is not lost when the order comes to an end |
Step-parents (whose who are married to or in a civil partnership with a parent) | Have to take steps to get it | Yes, if they are given it then it can be removed by a judge |
Fathers and PR
As we have seen some fathers will have PR and some will not.
How can a father get PR?
Dads who are married to the child’s mother (or her civil partner) get PR, as long as they are the child’s actual father.
Even if they get divorced from the mum, they don’t lose it.
Even if they married the mother after the child was born, they have it and can’t lose it. This is the effect of the Legitimacy Act 1976.
Dads who are not married or in a civil partnership have to do something to get PR. They will get PR if they:
Are on the birth certificate when it is first made
Enter into a PR agreement with the mother
Are named as the person the child lives with, in a child arrangements order
If the court says so, if named as the person the child spends time with (has contact) under a child arrangements order
Marry or enter into a civil partnership with the mother after the child is born
It’s possible to agree that the father has PR and enter into a PR agreement. The easiest ways to get PR are to be named on the birth certificate or enter into an agreement with the mother. Court should always be the last resort.
What a dad can do without PR
Parents who don’t have PR can make certain applications to court including applications for a child arrangements order, a specific issues order, or a prohibited steps order.
They also have to pay child maintenance as this is the result of being the legal parent not of having PR.
They have to make sure the child attends school and does not truant.
They have the right to reasonable contact if the child is being looked after by the local authority, and to be consulted.
Most other things require PR.
Applying to court for PR
The best thing is to try to agree PR and sign a PR agreement with the mother.
If the mum doesn’t agree, then the father can apply to court for PR using application form C1. This form deals with PR, but if there are also problems about contact, then it’s sensible to also make an application for a child arrangements order at the same time, using form C100.
Dads will have to show that it is in the best interests of the child for them to have PR. The court looks particularly at
Whether they are committed to the child
The degree of attachment between dad and child
The reasons the dad wants PR.
Most applications for PR from dads are successful.
What if the dad isn’t really the dad?
If the court makes a declaration that a man is not the father after all, and was wrongly named as the father, then the court will treat him as never having had PR. This is the case even if he was married to the mother and had been thought to have had PR.
Parents who are harmful
Some parents will use their PR in a way that harms the child, directly or through harming the primary carer’s wellbeing and thus their ability to look after the child.
How can someone lose PR?
Even if a mum or a married dad is terrible, they can’t lose PR. They would only stop having PR if they stopped being a parent such as if someone else adopted the child.
It is possible to apply to court to end someone’s PR if their PR is of the removable type. Use form C1.
Unmarried dads can lose PR. The court looks at the same things as if they are deciding to give someone PR in the first place:
Whether they are committed to the child
The degree of attachment between dad and child
The reasons the dad wants PR.
Removal of PR has to be justified and it has to be best to remove it rather than simply make an order that limits the person’s use of it.
Applying to remove the PR from the father is unusual. Only 25 orders doing this were made in 2022. However, they are becoming more common. If you are thinking of making an application like this, then please seek legal advice.
In the future, the law will change to remove PR from fathers with certain types of criminal conviction, but this law is not yet in force.
Limiting someone’s ability to use their PR
If the PR cannot be removed, or if it would be too harsh to remove their PR, then the court can still choose to limit it. This would be the route to use if you wanted to limit the PR of a mum or married parent.
You can apply for a prohibited steps order under section 8 Children Act 1989, using form C100. This is an application for an order that stops someone from exercising their PR in a certain way. This might stop them from doing one thing (such as changing the child’s school) or it could be made really wide, so that it prevents them from doing anything or being given information about the child.
For example, in a case where the father had tried to kill the mother and children, the court made an order that said he wasn’t to use his PR and no one was to give him information about them. It could not remove his PR because he had been married to the mum.
If those with PR disagree about one issue, such as the child’s school, either of them can apply for a specific issues order - a court order where a judge decides what should happen. In one case, the court limited the mum’s ability to decide about education of the child.
Other situations
What if the child is being looked after by someone without PR?
People who don’t have PR
People without PR who are looking after a child temporarily can do what is reasonable in the circumstances to safeguard the child or promote the child’s welfare.
What is reasonable will depend on the situation. For example, this might mean cleaning a scraped knee if the child falls over, but not agreeing to major surgery for the child.
It is also possible for someone with PR to delegate their PR to someone else temporarily. For example if the child is going on holiday abroad with their grandparents, then it would be sensible to have a document saying that the grandparents have PR for the duration of the holiday or for specific purposes.
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Step-parents
A step-parent – someone who is married or in a civil partnership with a parent – can get PR if the parent has PR, and everyone else with PR also agrees. If there is no agreement, then the court can give them PR if it is in the child’s best interests. It’s best to show a practical reason why they need PR as it would not usually be enough just to show that they are acting as a normal step-parent.
Using PR
Everyone with PR can act by themselves unless they are deciding about
Getting the child circumcised
Vaccinating the child
Sterilisation of the child (this would never be done anyway without a court order!)
Changing the child’s name
Everyone with PR has to agree to these things.
What if two people with PR disagree?
The first thing to do is to write to the other parent and explain your concerns and what you want. Try to avoid inflammatory language. Ask them to respond by a specific date, but give them a few weeks.
If you can agree things, problem solved. If it’s really important that it goes in a court order, you can file an application for the court to turn your agreement into a ‘consent order’.
If you think you might need a third party to help resolve matters, we recommend you suggest mediation or another form of non-court dispute resolution. We have a page all about these ways of reaching agreement.
Professor Polly says: “There’s lots of research evidence that says that it’s hostility that harms children, rather than the fact that parents are separated. This means it’s important to try to work things out as amicably as possible. The court expects you to try non-court dispute resolution (NCDR) such as mediation and will ask you about this. Even when there has been domestic abuse, some forms of NCDR may be safe.” Our page on reaching agreement explains things.
If that does not work, then one of you can make an application for a prohibited steps order or a specific issues order using form C100.
A specific issue application asks the court to decide an issue about the child. This might be what school the child should go to, or what name the child should have.
A prohibited steps application asks the court to stop another PR holder from doing something. That is usually a specific thing such as not to change the child’s school, but the court can use it to stop any use of PR by the other person.
If you want to stop the other PR holder from doing something, you should apply for a prohibited steps order. If you want to do something or the other parent isn’t going to do it without agreement, then you want a specific issues order. Don’t worry too much about which one. It’s the same form and the court can make either order whichever you apply for.
Taking the child abroad
To take a child out of the UK, you need the permission of everyone with parental responsibility. If you can't get this, you will need to make an application to court for a specific issues order.
You don't need the permission of everyone with parental responsibility or a court order if
the child lives with you under a Child Arrangements Order. Here, you can take the child out of the UK for up to one month without needing the permission of others.
the child lives with you under a Special Guardianship Order. Here, you can take the child out of the UK for up to three months without needing the permission of others.
Taking or sending the child abroad without the right permissions can be child abduction which is a crime. You can find more about that on our Child Abduction page.