Parental Responsibility
(PR)
All the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities, and authority that a parent has by law in respect of a child (section 3 Children Act 1989). Mothers automatically have PR from birth. Fathers have PR if married to the mother at birth, named on the birth certificate (post-Dec 2003), or by court order/PR agreement.
PR covers major decisions about the child's life: education, medical treatment, religion, change of name, foreign travel. Day-to-day decisions can be made by anyone with care of the child (e.g. step-parent, grandparent). Up to 4 people can hold PR jointly. PR can be acquired by Step-Parent Parental Responsibility Order, Special Guardianship Order, adoption, or by section 4 PR Agreement (mother + father consent on prescribed form). A child of married parents who divorce: both parents retain PR. A child in care under section 31: the council shares PR with the parents.
In practice, parental responsibility is about who must be consulted, not about who the child lives with or how much time each parent gets. Those are separate questions answered by a child arrangements order. A father without PR can still have contact; a parent with PR can still be the one the child rarely sees. What PR gives you is standing: the right to be consulted on major decisions, to receive school reports, to consent to medical treatment, and to object to a change of name or a move abroad.
Worked example: Leon is not named on his daughter's birth certificate and was not married to her mother. He has no PR, so the school declines to give him reports and the GP will not discuss treatment. He has three routes: a parental responsibility agreement signed by both parents on the prescribed form and registered with the court, re-registration of the birth to add his name if the mother agrees, or an application to the court for a parental responsibility order if she does not. The court will look at his commitment to the child, the attachment between them, and his reasons for applying. Once he has PR, the school and GP must treat him as a parent.
The misconceptions cause real conflict. Having PR does not mean you can veto everyday decisions — routine matters are for whoever is caring for the child at the time. It does not entitle you to remove the child from the other parent, and taking a child abroad without the consent of everyone with PR, or a court order, can amount to child abduction, though a parent with a lives-with order may take the child for up to a month. PR does not end on divorce, and it is not connected to child maintenance: neither buys the other. And PR acquired through a court order can, unusually, be brought to an end by the court, unlike a mother's automatic PR.
Parental responsibility is defined by the Children Act 1989, is shared with the council for a looked after child under a care order, and is often examined by Cafcass in proceedings. Read our guides to parental responsibility and child arrangements, and try mediation before applying to court.
Related terms
Related guides
Parental Responsibility
Parental responsibility (PR) is the legal term for all the rights, duties, powers, and responsibilities that a parent has in relation to a child and their property. Having parental responsibility gives you a say in major decisions about your child's life — including education, medical treatment, and where they live. Not all parents automatically have it.
6 min
Child Arrangements Orders
A Child Arrangements Order (CAO) is a court order setting out the arrangements for where a child lives and how much time they spend with each parent or other person. They replaced the old residence and contact orders in 2014. The family court encourages parents to agree arrangements without court intervention, and before making an application you must attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM) in most cases. The court's primary concern in every case is the welfare of the child.
10 min
Care Proceedings: When the Council Applies to Take a Child into Care
When social services decide a child is at risk, they can apply to the court for a Care Order under section 31 of the Children Act 1989. The process is fast (26 weeks), the consequences are profound, and you have strong rights — including non-means-tested legal aid. This guide explains the threshold test, the proceedings, the orders the court can make, and the practical steps that affect outcomes.
11 min