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Sharing Parental Responsability
All persons having parental responsibility can exercise it independently of each other by law but in reality where there are significant differences of opinion between those holding parental responsibility such disagreements can often result in legal proceedings. The Children Act 1989 provides that a Court can make a prohibited steps order or a specific issue order to either prevent certain action being taken or requiring a parent to do something. This may be something as significant as not changing schools or surrendering a child’s passport to prevent removal from the jurisdiction.
The Adoption and Children Act 2002 introduced the concept of Special Guardianship, which is intended to provide additional security for looked-after children for whom adoption was not appropriate. A Special Guardian has parental responsibility, which can generally be exercised to the exclusion of all others with parental responsibility, but unlike adoption the basic legal link with the natural parents is preserved.
The Adoption and Children Act 2002 introduced the concept of Special Guardianship, which is intended to provide additional security for looked-after children for whom adoption was not appropriate. A Special Guardian has parental responsibility, which can generally be exercised to the exclusion of all others with parental responsibility, but unlike adoption the basic legal link with the natural parents is preserved.
