Step Parents & Parental Responsibility

[Gonzo33]

After having a read of a thread on the teenagers forum (mine isn't quite that - but his attitude is advanced!) I realised that my husband would have no PR over my son from a previous marriage, and it struck me that it may pose a problem in the future.

To give a bit of background. My husband is a crown employee, we live overseas for 4 out of 6 years. My son lives with us. His biological father lives in UK.

To move overseas my solicitor obtained leave of jurisdiction along with a residence order and a contact order. I was the petitioner (my husband and I were due to get married 2 weeks after the case finalised).

Very rarely am I away but it occurred to me that if I did go away and leave my son with my husband that if anything happened to my son he would be untreatable (is that a word) until I got back.

My exh is highly unlikely to ever give permission for my husband to also hold PR for our son, so I was wondering if there was a way around this. Can I write a letter to say that my husband can agree to any medical treatment required in an emergency, or can I write a letter to state that I am happy for him to have any medical treatment necessary until I am contactable? I would obviously include medical history and allergies (not that he really has either).

Thanks.

wouldn't your DH be classed as legal guardian in this case though?? If your DS needed emergency treatment then the DR's can decide this anyway if your son's life/limb was in danger. Sorry not much help.

Depends on the law of the land where you are. Your H can acquire PR in the UK. But that only has effect here.

I am on sovereign soil wherever we live Collaborate, and when you say acquire does this mean a court case? My exh would not give his permission for this.

It would have to be a court order then, but you will not be on sovereign soil for the purpose of child law. This is determined by the place of the child's habitual residence. Living on a military base or in an embassy won't count. You can't for example, rush a child to the local hospital, and expect that they'll pretend you're in the UK.

See this

www.findthekids.com/cases/Re_a_others_uk.txt

and this:

www.4pb.com/index.php?item_id=1513&barrister=

Thanks Collaborate