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Norfolk Children's Services kinship offer

Parental responsibility

It is important to understand parental responsibility if you are a kinship carer who has parental responsibility for the child(ren) in your care. 

Parental responsibility of mothers and fathers

Mothers automatically have parental responsibility for their child when the baby is born. The child's father usually gets parental responsibility if he is either married to the child's mother or is named on the birth certificate. 

If mum and dad are married at the time of the child's birth or adoption, they will both automatically have parental responsibility for the child. If parents were not married, an unmarried dad can get parental responsibility for his child in 1 of 3 ways:

  1. Jointly registering the birth of the child with the mother (from 1 December 2003)
  2. Obtaining a parental responsibility agreement from the mother
  3. Applying to the courts

Parental responsibility of kinship carers

As a kinship carer you may have to gain parental responsibility by getting an order from court.

How to apply for parental responsibility on the GOV.UK website

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