Q&As

A child is born to unmarried parents outside the UK. The mother and child then move to England. The mother seeks sole parental responsibility for the child. Will the father’s parental responsibility be determined in accordance with the law in the child’s place of birth or in accordance with law in England and Wales?

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Produced in partnership with Chris Bryden of 4 King’s Bench Walk
Published on: 20 February 2019
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Parental Responsibility is defined by section 3 of the Children Act 1989 (ChA 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’. By virtue of ChA 1989, s 2, where the child’s father and mother were married to each other at the time of birth, they each have parental responsibility for the child. ChA 1989, s 4 deals with the acquisition of parental responsibility by the father where the parents were not married. A father can acquire parental responsibility by being named on the child’s birth certificate, by a parental responsibility agreement, or a court order.

The Convention on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition,

Chris Bryden
Chris Bryden

Barrister, 4 King’s Bench Walk

Chris was called to the Bar in 2003 and since that time has built a busy practice across a range of areas, with an emphasis on Chancery practice. He enjoys a well-deserved reputation for his knowledge and expertise in each area. He appears regularly in the County Court, Family Court and the High Court as well as various specialist Tribunals, and has been involved in cases up to and including the Supreme Court. He regularly is instructed at Appellate level. He has extensive and wide-ranging experience particularly in the areas of wills, probate and inheritance disputes; property including adverse possession, boundary disputes and issues arising out of trusts of land; company and commercial work and financial remedies. Chris is head of the Family Group and head of the Property Team at 4KBW.

Chris is the author of numerous articles in publications such as the New Law Journal, Counsel and Family Law, amongst many other titles, and is the co-author of Social Media in the Workplace: A Handbook (2015, Jordan Publishing).

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Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
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Key definition:
Child definition
What does Child mean?

A person under the age of 18.

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