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