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Parental responsibility

Who has parental responsibility?

It’s the legal term for a parent’s rights and duties, and it decides who has to sign your child’s deed poll. Mothers always have it. Most fathers do too, but not all. Step-parents and grandparents don’t, unless they’ve been given it formally. Here’s how to work out who has it in your family.

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Mothers, fathers and second parents
Step-parents and guardians
Who signs your child’s deed poll
The rules behind who signs

Checked against the Children Act 1989, HM Passport Office guidance, GOV.UK and Coram Children’s Legal Centre. Sources are listed at the end.

Updated: 30 October 2026
On this pageQuick answerWho has itChanging a nameHow people get itWhat doesn’t end itCheckingFAQs

The quick answer

A child’s birth mother always has parental responsibility. A father has it if he was married to or in a civil partnership with the mother when the child was born, if he’s named on the birth certificate of a child born in recent years (the dates for each nation are below), or if he’s been given it by agreement or a court order. A second female parent can have it in much the same ways.

Everyone who has parental responsibility has to agree to a change of name for a child under 16, and HM Passport Office won’t accept a child’s new name without it. Our child’s deed poll has a signature space for both parents, for £14.95 with free tracked delivery.

The rules

Who has parental responsibility?

The Children Act 1989 defines parental responsibility as all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority a parent has for a child. More than one person can have it at once, and nobody loses it because someone else gains it. HM Passport Office: parental responsibility

PersonDo they have it?
The birth motherYes, always, unless a court ends it with an adoption order or a parental order after surrogacy
A father married to, or in a civil partnership with, the mother at the birthYes
A father who marries the mother after the birthYes. Re-registering the birth puts it on record, which the Passport Office looks for
An unmarried father named on the birth certificateYes, for births registered from 1 December 2003 in England and Wales, 15 April 2002 in Northern Ireland or 4 May 2006 in Scotland
An unmarried father not on the birth certificate, or from before those datesNot automatically. He can get it by re-registering the birth with the mother, a parental responsibility agreement or a court order
A second female parentYes, if she was married to or in a civil partnership with the mother at the time of treatment, or is registered on the birth certificate. Otherwise by agreement or court order
A step-parentNot automatically, even after marrying the child’s parent. Only by agreement with the parents who have it, or a court order
Grandparents and other relativesNot automatically. Only through a court order, such as a child arrangements order or special guardianship, or as a guardian
A guardian named in a parent’s willYes, once the appointment takes effect, usually when no parent with parental responsibility is left
A special guardianYes, but a new surname still needs the written consent of everyone with parental responsibility, or the court’s permission

The dates for unmarried fathers come from HM Passport Office’s guidance on birth parents. HM Passport Office: birth parents, adoption and surrogacy GOV.UK: who has parental responsibility

Why it matters

What it means for a change of name

For a child under 16, everyone with parental responsibility has to agree to a new name. HM Passport Office’s guidance says it won’t accept a child’s change of name unless they all have, and that without a court order it issues the passport in the child’s original name. HM Passport Office: change of name applications

If a court has made a child arrangements order saying who the child lives with, the Children Act 1989 goes further: nobody can cause the child to be known by a new surname without the written consent of everyone with parental responsibility, or the court’s permission. The same applies under a special guardianship order or a care order. Children Act 1989, section 13

If you’re the only person with parental responsibility, you can sign your child’s deed poll on your own. The Passport Office may write to ask you to confirm that you have sole responsibility.

Signed by everyone with parental responsibility, our child’s deed poll is backed by our acceptance guarantee for the Passport Office, HMRC, the NHS and other UK public bodies.

Getting it

How someone gets parental responsibility

Registering the birth together

An unmarried father or second female parent named on the birth certificate gets it, from the dates above. Re-registering an older birth to add them can do the same.

A parental responsibility agreement

A formal agreement with the mother, or for a married step-parent, with the parents who have it. A step-parent has to be married to, or in a civil partnership with, a parent who has parental responsibility.

A court order

A parental responsibility order, or a child arrangements order naming someone as a person the child lives with, which gives them parental responsibility while it lasts.

Adoption

An adoption order gives the adopters parental responsibility and ends the birth parents’.

The step-parent rules are in section 4A of the Children Act 1989. Children Act 1989, section 4A

Everyone agreed?

Your child’s deed poll is prepared from your details, checked by a person and posted free. Order by 6pm, Monday to Friday, for same-day processing.

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Common myths

What doesn’t end parental responsibility

  • Separating or divorcing. Both parents keep it, whoever the child lives with.
  • Not seeing the child. A parent with no contact still has it, and still has to agree to a change of name.
  • Not paying child maintenance. It makes no difference to parental responsibility.
  • Moving abroad. A parent overseas keeps it.
  • A new partner. Marrying or moving in with someone doesn’t give them parental responsibility.

Once someone has parental responsibility, only a court can take it away. HM Passport Office: parental responsibility

Your family

Checking who has it in your family

There’s no central register. Check the full birth certificate for the father’s or second parent’s name, where the birth was registered and the date, and look out any parental responsibility agreement or court order.

Once you know who has it, they all sign your child’s deed poll in front of two witnesses. Our guides to changing a child’s name and changing a stepchild’s surname take you through it.

Your questions answered

Frequently asked questions

Yes, for births registered from 1 December 2003 in England and Wales, 15 April 2002 in Northern Ireland or 4 May 2006 in Scotland. For a birth registered earlier, being named on the certificate wasn’t enough on its own.

Not automatically, even if they’re married to the child’s parent. A step-parent can get it through a parental responsibility agreement with the parents who have it, or a court order.

Yes, if they have parental responsibility. Everyone with parental responsibility has to agree to a change of name for a child under 16, and the Passport Office checks for it.

No. Both parents keep it after a divorce or separation, whoever the child lives with.

Yes, if you’re the only person with parental responsibility. If anyone else has it, they need to sign too, or you’ll need a court order.

Not automatically. They can get it through a court order, such as a child arrangements order or a special guardianship order, or by being named as a guardian.

Check the detail

Sources for this guide

Guidance and reference pages

The official rules this guide is based on, checked in October 2026.

Continue your name change

Related guides

Changing a child’s name

How a child’s deed poll works, step by step.

Changing a stepchild’s surname

Who has to agree, and the compromise that often works.

When the other parent won’t agree

Your options without their consent.

Ready when you are

Everyone on board? Make it official.

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