According to the Office of National Statistics, in 2012 nearly half of all babies were born to unmarried parents. This figure is set to rise with society’s steady move towards cohabitation and away from traditional marriage. So, in terms of your , does it really make a difference?
For mothers: If you are a mum then it matters not a jot whether you are married to your child’s father or simply living cosily together out with wedlock. You will have full parental rights and responsibilities for your child and can make decisions regarding that child’s life and welfare, including medical care, schooling and religion. These rights and more importantly responsibilities are set out in full in the Children (Scotland) Act 1995.
For fathers: If you are married to the mother of your child, then you will have full parental rights and responsibilities for your child. So, what about unmarried fathers? If you signed the Birth Certificate after 4th May 2006, then all well and good. In that case, you will stand equally with the mother and neither of you will have rights which trump the other.
However, what about dads who did not sign the register of births or who have older children?
Firstly such Dads will be in good company given the recent furore over the revelation that Ed Milliband had failed to sign the birth certificate for his son Daniel! So what can dad do in that situation? If on good terms with the child’s mother, then both can sign a Parental Rights and Responsibilities Agreement in terms of section 4 (1) of the children ( Scotland ) Act 1995.
This is very straightforward and once registered is binding and grants fathers the same parental rights and responsibilities as mothers. The difficulty lies if the mother will not sign such an Agreement. In that case the father will require to raise a court action and ask a Sheriff to grant him such rights. The court will look at whether it is in the best interests of a child for his or her father to have such input and influence over the child’s life. If the child is over 12 years of age then he or she is entitled to have a say too.
So, if you are a father to be, our advice is to ensure that you are named on the birth certificate of your child to avoid any issues further down the road.
If you wish any further advice in relation to your own situation then please do not hesitate to contact a member of the Family Law team.
