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Parenting can be both rewarding and challenging - especially when it comes to understanding your legal rights. Whether you're navigating custody arrangements, parental responsibilities, or child support, knowing your rights is essential for protecting your family’s best interests. One of the first things to consider is whether you are actually someone with Parental Rights and responsibilities (PRRs). Considering who has PRRs is dependent on the family circumstances at birth.
The mother who gives birth to the child automatically has PRRs. The child’s father will automatically acquire PRRs if he is:-
Interestingly, acquiring PRRs is not restricted to the biological parents. Anyone who has significant involvement with the child (e.g. step-parents, grandparents and even siblings) can apply to the court to obtain PRRs in certain circumstances.
So what are PRRs? In Scotland, parental rights exist for the benefit of the child and are utilised to allow those with PRRs to meet their “parental responsibilities”. In summary, these rights include deciding where the children resides and with whom, making choices about child’s upbringing, maintaining personal relations and contact with the child, and to act as the child’s legal representative. Importantly, with the holiday season approaching, no person with PRRs should remove the child from the UK without the consent of any other person with PRRs.
So what happens if those who have PRRs can’t agree? PRRs are very important and those who have such rights and responsibilities share them equally. This means when reaching a decision about the child, they must consult any other person with PRRs. This can make things quite difficult when those with such rights cannot agree. When making a decision for a child, those with PRRs should listen to the child’s views on matters, should they have one, and take these into consideration depending on the age and maturity of the child. Occasionally, when those with parental rights and responsibilities cannot agree on matters, the Court has to decide for them.
