next of kin question

tigtag02

Hi all

Just a quicky:

A child is born before Dec 2003 (I think thats when the law changed) to unmarried parents.

If the childs mother died would the father be the legal next of kin - even if that father hadnt seen that child for years?

Or is the father the NoK before the mother anyway?

Thanks in advance
tt

snapping_crocodile

The father has no legal parental responsibility as the birth was on/before 2003. Unless there is some written legal agreement between the parents, the father isd not therefore regarded as next of kin. Found here

http://www.annaarthur.com/living.php

tigtag02

That link (as far as I can see) doesnt mention NoK in the instance of my OP.

It is not parental responsibility I am looking for an answer to but NoK which I think is two seperate issues.

Julieg

Hi,

Not sure if this helps but my neice has a son who was born pre Dec 2003 who's father hasn't bothered with him. She's made a Will to state that she wants her parents to look after him in the event of her death.

I'll probably be seeing her on friday so will ask if she needed to do this to stop his father taking him or whether she just did it for peace of mind.

Cheers

Julie

Mojisola

Julieg wrote: »

Not sure if this helps but my neice has a son who was born pre Dec 2003 who's father hasn't bothered with him. She's made a Will to state that she wants her parents to look after him in the event of her death.

I'll probably be seeing her on friday so will ask if she needed to do this to stop his father taking him or whether she just did it for peace of mind.

She needs to be aware that all she is doing is expressing her wishes - it has no standing in law.

Next-of-kin is usually taken as blood relationship so, in answer to the OP, the father would be next-of-kin. An adult can nominate another person to be regarded as their next-of-kin for medical purposes.

tigtag02

Mojisola wrote: »

She needs to be aware that all she is doing is expressing her wishes - it has no standing in law.

Next-of-kin is usually taken as blood relationship so, in answer to the OP, the father would be next-of-kin. An adult can nominate another person to be regarded as their next-of-kin for medical purposes.

Thank you - this is what I thought but myself and a friend could not agree. She insisted that because he didnt have parental responsibily if anything happened to her then her father (the childs grandfather) would be next of kin.

I did try to advise her otherwise but she was having none of it.

Thanks again
tt

tandraig

jeez this one is a minefield! I have limited knowledge on this but to my understanding, it depends on whether the father is named on birth certificate, to some extent - and whether parents are divorced and who has custody and parental rights. or whether child is ward of court.
also if other parties have guardianship, such as foster parents or grandparents.

tigtag02

tandraig wrote: »

jeez this one is a minefield! I have limited knowledge on this but to my understanding, it depends on whether the father is named on birth certificate, to some extent - and whether parents are divorced and who has custody and parental rights. or whether child is ward of court.
also if other parties have guardianship, such as foster parents or grandparents.

It's not too complicated in this instance.

Father in on the BC but doesnt have perental rights (Child born before Dec 2003)

Parents were never married.

Child isnt a ward of cout nor does any other party have legal guradianship.

All the above applies in two cases the only difference being that case 1) the father sees the child and case 2) the father doesnt.

Would the father be the NoK in both cases if the mother died?

Thanks again
tt

mogadon

Next of Kin is a layman's term, it has no legal standing. You can nominate anyone you like as your next of kin, in terms of hospital treatment, for example. In terms of guardianship of a child it has no legal relevance. The child's next of kin will be whoever their legal guardian is, unless a court orders otherwise.

DX2

Mojisola wrote: »

She needs to be aware that all she is doing is expressing her wishes - it has no standing in law.

Next-of-kin is usually taken as blood relationship so, in answer to the OP, the father would be next-of-kin. An adult can nominate another person to be regarded as their next-of-kin for medical purposes.

That's interesting, so in theory what you are saying is that if I was to die tomorrow my son who has had no contact with his bio father since the day he was born (14 yrs ago)nor is he on the birth certificate would be uprooted from his family and friends to be placed with a stranger because of the blood relationship.

Something doesn't sit right there if I'm honest.

E2A: Just found this.
If an unmarried mother dies and the father has not obtained PR or been appointed as a guardian by the mother, he does not have an automatic right to look after the child (even if he was living with the mother) and will have to apply for a RO if he wishes to do so.

A person with PR can appoint a guardian by making a Deed of Appointment or as part of a Will. Financial help for a lone parent using a solicitor to appoint a guardian is available under the legal help scheme (commonly known as legal aid). If, following a death, there is no-one else with PR and no-one has been appointed as a guardian, the local authority must arrange for the care of any dependent children. This may be done by relatives or friends of the family who may be able to apply later to court for a RO which will automatically give them PR.

DX2

tigtag02 wrote: »

It's not too complicated in this instance.

Father in on the BC but doesnt have perental rights (Child born before Dec 2003)

Parents were never married.

Child isnt a ward of cout nor does any other party have legal guradianship.

All the above applies in two cases the only difference being that case 1) the father sees the child and case 2) the father doesnt.

Would the father be the NoK in both cases if the mother died?

Thanks again
tt

Tigtag now you have me thinking. From what I have briefly read it appears to come down to who has PR.
Maybe this link will be of some help:
http://www.therightwillcompany.co.uk/protectingyourchildren.html