Applying for parental rights-fast

daska

DSD was handed over to us by Police/SS and her dad didn't have Parental Responsibility. DIRECT.GOV gives you a brief summary about PR including how to work out if he has it but unless they were married, he has an agreement signed by the mother or he has a court order then it doesn't sound (from the information you have provided) as if he does.

It sounds as if there's been a misunderstanding somewhere along the line, probably that SS checked with him whether he had PR, found out he didn't and pointed out that he'd need to apply for it BUT...

Have the children been removed from their mother or has she been removed for some reason (crime/section etc)?

If so, it sounds as if you are talking about Residency (it hasn't been referred to as custody for many years now). The application for PR will normally go in along with that and my understanding is that if residency is awarded PR is automatic.

If it's urgent a solicitor can get it into court very quickly (we rang late Friday afternoon while driving back from collecting DSD, had appt on Monday and were in Court first thing Tuesday).

Use this link to FIND A SOLICITOR. The area you need is Children Law.

N.B. Don't expect it to be sorted and stamped immediately in one hearing. The initial hearing can be held in the absence of the other parent. The case will usually go to the Court in the area that the child usually lives but not always, we were lucky cos that was a 100 mile drive. Put together as much info as possible for the solicitor so you don't waste money on them writing to you to ask for it (names, relationships, contact details, diary of events, birth certificates, anything else that may be useful.)

gizmo111

Seanymph wrote: »

If he doesn't have PR then if SS need to remove the children they can't hand them over to him I don't believe.

Can SS not give him some guidance on obtaining it.

Of course they can - we remove childen and place with relatives/freinds all the time - this is either done wih agreement of the parent where they retain PR or with an order usually an interim care order where social services have PR.

PR is a much overused and worried about right.
At age 16 the child's wishes and feelings will be listened to by the court regardless of PR.

Does the OP want to share more info so we can advise more specifically?

Seanymph

Thanks gizmo. My only experience was with my ex, he was called by the police and we had to attend his children's school with social services and the police because they wouldn't allow the children to go home to his ex wife.

I remember them asking if they were married when the children were born and when he said yes they said 'good, that won't be a problem then',. I assumed from that they mean because he had PR. Anyway, they allowed them to come with us. It was, like i say, just something that was said on the day.

FBaby

He definitely won't have pr if he wasn't married to the mum due to the age of the kids, so that's clear. Would the mother agree to sign the parental responsibility agreement. If so, it is very straight forward and from when I looked at it, it doesn't need to be done in a court, just a solicitor, and only cost a minimum amount. If however she refuses, he will indeed need to make a request in court. He doesn't need a solicitor to do so, he needs to fill in a form, which around 5 years ago cost about £200. He might not even need to attend court if it is a straight forward case (as in this case if he lived with the kids all this time). If there is a case of urgency, with the support of SS, this could be considered an urgent request.

debbie_debt

The clear advice here is to get a solicitor immediately. Since both children were born before December 2003, the fact that his name is on the birth certificate is irrelevant - this only confers PR to the Dad from December 2003 onwards.

It is always advisable for the parent whom the children reside with has PR so that consent can be given for medical treatment. However, the more important issue is usually residency as a few people have suggested - this can be obtained via a Residence Order in Court and a solicitor can help with obtaining this. PR is automatically conferred to a person with a Residence Order, regardless of their familial relationship to the child/ren.

I am confused why Childrens Social Care have placed such urgency on him obtaining PR - this does not effect any immediate change in the children's day-to-day lives in terms of who cares for them or where they live. Are either of the children due for surgery etc? The 16 year old (if declared competent) can give their own consent. The 10 year old is a different issue.

Would you like to share any more details around the circumstances so we can advise further?