a fathers rights?

does ne one know a good web site where i can find out about fathers rights?

 

[newbump]

A father doesnt have many rights, unless you are married, they can go to court to get access etc, is there anything you are concerned about?

Natalie x

 

they are probably going to sound silly but as i am 17 my main concerns are - my exs mum is not the best driver and my ex and his 9 yr old brother have both said to me they dont trust her driving so i really dont want my baby to go in a car with someone who has at least one accident a year and whos own kids dont trust her, also my ex wants to take my baby down to the pub when he she is here with his best mate total fool and has started taking drugs and dont feel very comfortable with it - and was just generally worrying about what rights he has - sorry if this doesnt make sence.

 

[Rosieroo]

Makes perfect sense, I've been worrying about anyone having my baby aswell, and they drive like OAPs!

Why don't you pop into your local Citizens Advice Bureau, I am sure they will be able to point you in the right direction

 

after having a major arguement with my ex last night about baby i have made an appointment to see a solicitor next week to see what rights he actually has

 

[Rosieroo]

Good luck and I hope that you don't get too stressed between now and then. xxx

 

[hels]

Hey, May be it would be a good idea to see citizens advice first, solicitors can cost a fortune, even those that say 1st hour free, if they have to write letters they cost loads. CAB are great, and id check them out 1st.
Hels xx

 

[petchy]

my partner and i have been together for almost 6 years and have no plans to marry in the foreseeable future, but we are expecting our first child and naturally we want to ensure he has the same parental rights as me. have done a fair bit of research, and here's what you g=have to do:

firstly, both the mother and father will need to be present when registering the birth.

then the father will need to get a parental responsibility agreement which should be done as soon as possible after the birth. this usually involves a short visit to a family court for signing of papers etc.

for more info see:

http://www.coeffic.demon.co.uk/unmarried_father.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/453776.stm
http://www.jrf.org.uk/pressroom/releases/220999.asp

or do a google search on "unmarried fathers", "parental responsibility agreement" or similar

hope this helps!

oh, i forgot to paste this link - the relevant forms can be downloaded here i think!

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/HMCS ... orms_id=48

 

[beanie]

Thanks for the info Petchy, I had no idea it was like that legally. I just assumed that if my OH was there and signed the register he would have the legal rights of a parent. I understand that there are different situations but in my situation I think its disgusting that because I'm not married to my babies father he will not automatically be given custody if something happens to me, and he cannot give consent to medical procedures!!!! A bit of an old fashioned point of view in our society, all that we have had since we announced our happy news is "when are you getting married" because of course we can afford all that on top of the baby, and it obviously doesn't matter that we are both very happy and totally committed to each other anyway. And no doubt we'll have to pay a big fee to get the parental responsibility agreement.

Well that's certainly made me think. Thanks again Petchy, have printed out the links.

 

[petchy]

And no doubt we'll have to pay a big fee to get the parental responsibility agreement.

there shouldn't be a fee for this as far as i know. just need an appointment at your local family court to have your signatures witnessed - you can download the form from that website and fill it in, just don't sign it until you are in the court as they will need to witness the signing.

agree on the "when are you setting married?" issue. my partner's friends and family are very much like that, and it angers me that we have to "justify" our decision not to marry. if OH proposes now i'll actually say "can you ask me again in 5 years time?"! in norway where i am from it is much more common to live together and have kids outside of marriage - no one there bats an eyelid!

 

[Mirra]

I'm from the US and my hubby from Scotland. His twins from a previous relationship live with us, and because they were not married he has NO rights to them. We just lucked out that the ex is a wodnerful person and I get along brilliantly with her. She let them live with us, even though she misses them terribly because it was what was best for them. She would never pull them from us not only because it would break the kid's hearts but ours as well and we have become good friends with her. Only now after 7 years my hubby has decided to ask her to file for joint custody. Not to take any of her rights away, but if something were to happen to her, her mother could easily take them and they barely know her. Hopefully she will agree as she is a nice person, but we will see.

I really don't understand why men who aren't married have no rights to their kids. In the U.S., married or not the parents get joint custody, even if the father SAYS he wants nothing to do with his kid, the court STILL gives joint custody. Parents don't even have the choice. The only way to have sole custody is for one parent to be proven unfit, i.e. drugs, abuse, etc. If parents argue over who gets to keep the child, the mother usually wins unless she is proven unfit, but she HAS to allow visits.

I don't understand why it isn't that way over here. I mean, if something happened to my hubby's ex....the kids would go to her mother??? I would hope after 7 years we would win a court case in the best interest of the children. It just doesn't make any sense to me at all why the fathers get excluded over here

 

[soconfused]

thanks for all the info its been really useful.

i was just wondering... what if the father's name doesnt go on the birth certificate? would he still be able to apply for a parental responsibility agreement?

xxx

 

[petchy]

i think his name would have to be on the birth certificate but i'm not 100% sure, as my OHs name is definitely going to be on our baby's birth certificate, so it's not an issue for us. hope you manage to find out!

 

[scared 19]

What happens if the baby has his last name??