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Parental Responsibility and co-parenting

In the UK it is possible for a father to apply for a court order or enter into a written agreement with the mother to give him parental responsibility for a child.

This means that he will then a right to be kept informed and to take part in decisions about the child’s education, health, welfare.

More than one person can have Parental Responsibility for a child.

If the mother is in agreement then the father can enter into a written Parental Responsibility Agreement with her, this is a type of contract.

You can obtain a form from a solicitor who can also help you to complete it or you can obtain it from www.justice.gov.uk - see under Forms and search under "Children Act" on the search form.

The Form must be signed by both parents and the parent's signatures will need to be witnessed by an Officer of the Court or a Magistrate.

The Form then has to be sent to the Principal Registry of the High Court.

It will not be an effective agreement until it has been sent to the court and registered there.

Once the written agreement has been signed and filed parental responsibility can only be taken away from the father by an order of the court.

If the mother will not agree to enter into a parental responsibility agreement with the father he will need to apply for a parental responsibility order from the court.

For further information see the free legal information section Children on CompactLaw.co.uk