• 0800 015 0340
  • Contact Us
    • All Offices
    • Leeds City Centre
    • Bradford City Centre
    • Huddersfield
    • Wakefield
    • Halifax
    • Morley
    • Horbury
    • Guiseley
  • IIC logo
Menu
  • About Us
  • Vision & Values
    • Visions & Values
    • Health and Wellness
    • Charity & Community
    • Prizes & Awards
    • Sponsorship
  • Your Team
  • Media
    • The Hub
    • Downloads
  • Free Training
  • Careers
  • Testimonials
Chadwick Lawrence
Trustpilot
  • Business Services
    • Employment Law
      • Employment Law
      • BoxHR
    • Complete Property Solutions
      • Complete Property Solutions
      • Commercial Property Transactions
      • Development & New Build Sales
      • Property Dispute Resolution
      • Sales & Purchases of Property
      • Commercial Land Development
      • Boundary Disputes, Land Ownership, Rights, Breach of Contract, Misrepresentation & Damage to Property
      • Leases of Commercial Premises for Landlords or Tenants
      • Land Acquisition for Residential Development & New Build Sales
      • Breaches of Leases, Rent & Service Charge Issues
      • Mortgage Finance & Security
      • Option Agreements & Conditional Contracts
      • Claims Against Property Professionals
      • Leasehold Management
      • Planning Agreements
      • Judicial Review
      • blank
      • blank
      • Lease Renewals, Termination & Dilapidations
    • Corporate & Contracts
      • Corporate & Contracts
      • Banking & Finance
      • Commercial Contracts
      • Corporate Advisory
      • Mergers & Acquisitions
      • LINK
    • Corporate Recovery & Insolvency
      • Corporate Recovery & Insolvency
      • Administration
      • Fraudulent Trading
      • Wrongful Trading
      • Preferences
      • Transactions at an Undervalue
      • Director Disqualification
      • Company Restoration
      • Winding-Up Petitions
      • Statutory Demands
      • Individual Voluntary Arrangements
      • Bankruptcy
      • Validation Orders
      • Administrative Receivership
      • Company Voluntary Arrangements
      • Liquidations
      • FAQs
    • Intellectual Property
      • Intellectual Property
      • Contracts and Licenses
      • Trademarks
      • Design Rights
      • Enforcement
      • Restrictive Covenants
      • FAQs
    • Litigation in Business
      • Litigation in Business
      • Contractual Disputes
      • Construction Disputes
      • Professional Negligence
      • Restrictive Covenant Solicitors
      • Banking & Finance
      • Debt Collection & Recovery
      • Directors and Partnership Internal Disputes
      • FAQs
      • Complete Property Solutions (Property Dispute Resolution)
    • Media Law and Reputation
      • Media Law and Reputation
      • Pre-Publication and Crisis Management
      • After Publication
      • Online Reputation
      • Defamation
      • Harassment
      • Privacy
    • Regulatory Services
      • Regulatory Services
      • Coroners Inquests
      • Licensing
      • Sports Regulation
      • Health and Safety Investigations
      • Trading Standards
      • Box GDPR
      • BoxLegal
      • Immigration & Workers
      • Transport Law
    • Sports Law
      • Sports Law
      • Club Services
      • Player / Coach Services
      • Regulatory Services
      • Private Client Services
  • Personal Services
    • Road Traffic & Motoring Law
      • Road Traffic & Motoring Law
      • Drink Driving
      • Speeding & Disqualification
      • Driving Without Due Care & Attention
      • Use of a Mobile Phone
      • Driving Without Insurance
      • Drug Driving
      • Dangerous Driving
      • Failure to Provide Information
      • Road Traffic and Motoring Offences
    • Media Law and Reputation
      • Media Law and Reputation
      • Pre-Publication and Crisis Management
      • After Publication
      • Online Reputation
      • Defamation
      • Harassment
      • Privacy
    • Dispute Resolution
      • Dispute Resolution
      • Property Dispute Resolution
      • Contentious Probate
      • Court Proceedings
      • Data Protection GDPR Breaches
      • Debt Matters
      • Private Contract Disputes
      • Professional Negligence
      • FAQs
    • Employment Law
      • Employment Law
      • Disciplinary
      • Grievance Advice
      • Employment Tribunal
      • Settlement Agreements
      • Restrictive Covenants
      • Exit Packages
      • FAQS
    • Family Solicitors
      • Family Solicitors
      • Divorce
      • Civil Partnership
      • Financial Settlements after Divorce or Dissolution
      • Pre-nuptial and Post-nuptial Agreements
      • Adoption
      • Grandparents Rights
      • Funding Your Case
      • Mediation Solicitors
      • Financial Provision for Children
      • Separation Agreement Solicitors
      • Cohabitation Agreements
      • Collaborative Law Solicitors
      • FAQs
    • Home & Property Services
      • Home & Property Services
      • Remortgaging
      • Buying and Selling
      • Property FAQs
    • Medical Negligence
      • Medical Negligence
      • Accident & Emergency
      • Amputations
      • Birth Injuries
      • Brain Injuries
      • Cancer Cases
      • Cardiology
      • Ear, Nose & Throat
      • Eye Conditions & Surgery
      • Gastroenterology
      • General Practitioner (GP)
      • Genetic Conditions
      • Gynaecology
      • Neurology / Nerve Damage
      • Orthopaedics & Rheumatology
      • Paediatrics
      • Respiratory Disorders
      • Spinal Cord Injuries
      • Surgery
      • Urology & Renal
      • Vascular Conditions & Vascular Surgery
    • Personal Injury Solicitors
      • Personal Injury Solicitors
      • Animal Related Injury Claims
      • Armed Forces Injury Claims
      • Slip, Trip or Fall Accident Claim
      • Accident At Work Claims
      • Road Traffic Accident Solicitors
      • FAQs
    • Wills & Probate Solicitors
      • Wills & Probate Solicitors
      • Disputed Wills
      • FAQs
      • International Legal Matters
      • Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA)
      • Succession Planning
      • Trusts
      • UK Tax Planning
    • Court of Protection
      • Court of Protection
      • Lay Deputyship Advice
      • Personal Injury Trusts
      • Professional Deputyships
      • Statutory Wills
  • Business Services
    • Business Services
      • Employment Law
        • Employment Law
        • BoxHR
      • Complete Property Solutions
        • Complete Property Solutions
        • Commercial Property Transactions
        • Development & New Build Sales
        • Property Dispute Resolution
        • Sales & Purchases of Property
        • Commercial Land Development
        • Boundary Disputes, Land Ownership, Rights, Breach of Contract, Misrepresentation & Damage to Property
        • Leases of Commercial Premises for Landlords or Tenants
        • Land Acquisition for Residential Development & New Build Sales
        • Breaches of Leases, Rent & Service Charge Issues
        • Mortgage Finance & Security
        • Option Agreements & Conditional Contracts
        • Claims Against Property Professionals
        • Leasehold Management
        • Planning Agreements
        • Judicial Review
        • blank
        • blank
        • Lease Renewals, Termination & Dilapidations
      • Corporate & Contracts
        • Corporate & Contracts
        • Banking & Finance
        • Commercial Contracts
        • Corporate Advisory
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • LINK
      • Corporate Recovery & Insolvency
        • Corporate Recovery & Insolvency
        • Administration
        • Fraudulent Trading
        • Wrongful Trading
        • Preferences
        • Transactions at an Undervalue
        • Director Disqualification
        • Company Restoration
        • Winding-Up Petitions
        • Statutory Demands
        • Individual Voluntary Arrangements
        • Bankruptcy
        • Validation Orders
        • Administrative Receivership
        • Company Voluntary Arrangements
        • Liquidations
        • FAQs
      • Intellectual Property
        • Intellectual Property
        • Contracts and Licenses
        • Trademarks
        • Design Rights
        • Enforcement
        • Restrictive Covenants
        • FAQs
      • Litigation in Business
        • Litigation in Business
        • Contractual Disputes
        • Construction Disputes
        • Professional Negligence
        • Restrictive Covenant Solicitors
        • Banking & Finance
        • Debt Collection & Recovery
        • Directors and Partnership Internal Disputes
        • FAQs
        • Complete Property Solutions (Property Dispute Resolution)
      • Media Law and Reputation
        • Media Law and Reputation
        • Pre-Publication and Crisis Management
        • After Publication
        • Online Reputation
        • Defamation
        • Harassment
        • Privacy
      • Regulatory Services
        • Regulatory Services
        • Coroners Inquests
        • Licensing
        • Sports Regulation
        • Health and Safety Investigations
        • Trading Standards
        • Box GDPR
        • BoxLegal
        • Immigration & Workers
        • Transport Law
      • Sports Law
        • Sports Law
        • Club Services
        • Player / Coach Services
        • Regulatory Services
        • Private Client Services
  • Personal Services
    • Personal Services
      • Road Traffic & Motoring Law
        • Road Traffic & Motoring Law
        • Drink Driving
        • Speeding & Disqualification
        • Driving Without Due Care & Attention
        • Use of a Mobile Phone
        • Driving Without Insurance
        • Drug Driving
        • Dangerous Driving
        • Failure to Provide Information
        • Road Traffic and Motoring Offences
      • Media Law and Reputation
        • Media Law and Reputation
        • Pre-Publication and Crisis Management
        • After Publication
        • Online Reputation
        • Defamation
        • Harassment
        • Privacy
      • Dispute Resolution
        • Dispute Resolution
        • Property Dispute Resolution
        • Contentious Probate
        • Court Proceedings
        • Data Protection GDPR Breaches
        • Debt Matters
        • Private Contract Disputes
        • Professional Negligence
        • FAQs
      • Employment Law
        • Employment Law
        • Disciplinary
        • Grievance Advice
        • Employment Tribunal
        • Settlement Agreements
        • Restrictive Covenants
        • Exit Packages
        • FAQS
      • Family Solicitors
        • Family Solicitors
        • Divorce
        • Civil Partnership
        • Financial Settlements after Divorce or Dissolution
        • Pre-nuptial and Post-nuptial Agreements
        • Adoption
        • Grandparents Rights
        • Funding Your Case
        • Mediation Solicitors
        • Financial Provision for Children
        • Separation Agreement Solicitors
        • Cohabitation Agreements
        • Collaborative Law Solicitors
        • FAQs
      • Home & Property Services
        • Home & Property Services
        • Remortgaging
        • Buying and Selling
        • Property FAQs
      • Medical Negligence
        • Medical Negligence
        • Accident & Emergency
        • Amputations
        • Birth Injuries
        • Brain Injuries
        • Cancer Cases
        • Cardiology
        • Ear, Nose & Throat
        • Eye Conditions & Surgery
        • Gastroenterology
        • General Practitioner (GP)
        • Genetic Conditions
        • Gynaecology
        • Neurology / Nerve Damage
        • Orthopaedics & Rheumatology
        • Paediatrics
        • Respiratory Disorders
        • Spinal Cord Injuries
        • Surgery
        • Urology & Renal
        • Vascular Conditions & Vascular Surgery
      • Personal Injury Solicitors
        • Personal Injury Solicitors
        • Animal Related Injury Claims
        • Armed Forces Injury Claims
        • Slip, Trip or Fall Accident Claim
        • Accident At Work Claims
        • Road Traffic Accident Solicitors
        • FAQs
      • Wills & Probate Solicitors
        • Wills & Probate Solicitors
        • Disputed Wills
        • FAQs
        • International Legal Matters
        • Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA)
        • Succession Planning
        • Trusts
        • UK Tax Planning
      • Court of Protection
        • Court of Protection
        • Lay Deputyship Advice
        • Personal Injury Trusts
        • Professional Deputyships
        • Statutory Wills

You are here:Home > Media > Legal News > Parental Responsibility for Step-Children

  • Quick Jump
    • About Us
    • BoxHR
    • Business Services
    • Careers
    • Client Care & Complaints
    • Contact Us
    • Cookie Policy
    • Development and Plot Sales
    • Divorce Solicitors
    • Downloads
    • Financial Conduct Authority Investigation
    • Health and Wellness
    • Legal About Us
    • Make a payment
    • Media
    • Media
    • Meet Your Managing Partner
    • National Minimum Wage Investigations
    • Perks For Our People
    • Personal Services
    • Pricing Transparency
    • Privacy Notice
    • Prize Draw Terms & Conditions
    • Property Dispute Resolution
    • Seminar Sign In
    • Separation Specialist Solicitors
    • Sitemap
    • START
    • Team
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Testimonials
    • The Chadwick Lawrence Way
    • The Hub
    • Transport Law
    • We are Yorkshire's Legal People
    • Yorkshire Lawyer Network
Parental Responsibility for Step-Children

11
Feb 2020

Parental Responsibility for Step-Children

In our modern society it is increasingly common for parents of children to divorce and remarry, creating a step-parent step-child relationship. Many step-parents take active roles in their step-children’s lives; however, marriage to a child’s biological parent does not confer any parental responsibility on a step-parent.

What is parental responsibility?

A person with ‘parental responsibility’ has the same rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority as a biological parent in respect of the child; this is governed by the Children Act 1989.

Decisions made about a child under this authority may include vaccinations, their religious education, or making decisions with their school, including the signing of consent forms.

A lack of parental responsibility does not prevent a person with care of a child acting reasonably in circumstances for the purpose of safeguarding or promoting the child’s welfare, such as a babysitter or step-parent taking a child to A&E in an emergency.

Who has parental responsibility?

The biological mother of a child will always have parental responsibility.

If the biological father is married to the mother at the time of birth, he will automatically have parental responsibility on the birth. If they are not married at the time of the birth, the father can acquire parental responsibility by: marrying the mother, being named on the birth certificate (on or after 01/12/2003; the father must be present at the registration), or he can acquire it by other means (similar to those for step-parents set out below).

Note that there are different rules for same sex parents which have not been discussed here.

Step-parents: acquiring parental responsibility.

Step-parents cannot automatically acquire parental responsibility by marrying the biological mother of the child. There are, however, a number of ways to obtain parental responsibility:

Parental Responsibility Agreement: Once married, or in a civil partnership with the child’s parent, a step-parent can acquire parental responsibility by entering into a Parental Responsibility Agreement with all persons who currently have parental responsibility for the child. This does include, for example, any ex-partner with parental responsibility; therefore if the child’s other parent does not consent to the Agreement, an application to Court would be required.

Parental Responsibility Order: On application, the Court can order that a person, such as step-parent, has parental responsibility. Any other person with parental responsibility over the child will be notified of the application and can oppose it, but it will be for the Court to decide whether granting parental responsibility is in the best interests of the child.

Note that a Court can order that a person’s parental responsibility be removed, however this is rare and only used in extreme circumstances.

Child Arrangements Order (CAO): If there is a CAO in place (setting out where the child lives or with whom they have contact), a step-parent will acquire parental responsibility under that Court order if they are named as a person that the child will live with.

If a step-parent is to spend time or have contact with the child under the order, but is not named as a person they are to live with, then the step-parent may be given parental responsibility, but this is at the discretion of the Court and not automatically acquired under the CAO.

A step-parent’s parental responsibility under a CAO will last as long as the CAO is in force (if the child is to live with the step-parent), or as long as they are named as having contact with the child in the CAO if parental responsibility has been granted.

Adoption: It may be possible to acquire parental responsibility through adoption; however, as this extinguishes the rights held by any other natural parents, it is only likely to be used by a step-parent in very limited circumstances.

Note that some of these methods for acquiring parental responsibility may be applicable for other persons connected to a child, such as guardians and grandparents.

Step-parent with parental responsibility: what does it mean now?

Parental responsibility diminishes as a child grows older, for example medical facilities may have discretion to not send any information to the parents of a 16 year old child who has sufficient understanding and intelligence to make decisions on the matter.

When the step-child reaches 18, any parental responsibility acquired under a Parental Responsibility Agreement will end automatically.

It is also possible for the Court to order the revocation of a step-parent’s parental responsibility if said responsibility was acquired under a Parental Responsibility Agreement or a Court order and such application was made by any other person with parental responsibility.

It is important to also note that parental responsibility provides an equal say in any matter, but it does not provide the right to any final say.

What next?

If you would like to discuss parental responsibility or require assistance in obtaining parental responsibility, speak to one of our family law experts today on 01484 519999. Our family team cover all of our offices in Leeds, Wakefield, Huddersfield, Halifax, Morley, Horbury, Bradford and Guiseley.

Posted by Casey Robinson, Trainee Solicitor Family Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP.

< Back to Media Hub

  • Like this ? Share with friends
Chadwick Lawrence’s Annual Bake-Off Returns for Dementia Action Week

22
May 2025

Chadwick Lawrence’s Annual Bake-Off Returns for Dementia Action Week

It’s that time of year again at Chadwick Lawrence – spatulas at the ready and aprons on – as we kick off our much-loved Annual Bake Off in celebration of Dementia Action Week!  Across our offices, colleagues are rising to the challenge, competing for the coveted title of Best Baker 2025. From showstopping sponge cakes…

Read More

Is Dementia Preventable?

21
May 2025

Is Dementia Preventable?

Exploring risk factors for Dementia: what you can do now to protect your brain It’s true that getting older naturally increases our risk for cognitive decline, but the good news is that we’re learning more about factors we can influence to potentially reduce that risk. So, what can we do to help protect our brains…

Read More

Get in touch


  • 0800 015 0340
  • info@chadlaw.co.uk

Social Media


featured image
Chadwick Lawrence
  • Pricing Transparency
  • Legal About Us
  • Client Care & Complaints
  • Privacy Notice
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Sitemap

© Copyright 2025. Website design by Fantastic Media.

*The following are trading names/styles of Chadwick Lawrence LLP, Chadwick Lawrence Solicitors, Chadwick Lawrence, Yorkshire’s Legal People, Chadlaw, Acclaim

‹›×
    Leave a Message

    This field is hidden when viewing the form
    Name(Required)