Parental responsibilities and rights
Parental responsibilities
Parental responsibilities mean the things you must do to look after your child.
Parental rights
Your rights include being able to make choices about:
- how your child is brought up
- where your child should live
Who has parental responsibilities and rights
All mothers have parental responsibilities and rights as soon as they give birth to a child.
A birth mother's parental responsibilities and rights can be removed by a court. They will also be removed if a birth mother's child is adopted.
Not all fathers have parental responsibilities and rights.
Find out more if:
- you're a father
- you're a step parent
- you have a same-sex partner