Parental responsibility refused?

[MummyHLondon]

Hi

Following from a previous post, my ex-partner was found guilty this week on a harassment charge against me. Turns out he was arrested a few weeks ago for a different charge unrelated to me and is now on remand till trial.
I do not know what charge.
He is also on a two years licence for possession of stun guns. He is well known to the police force for various arrests over the years and is also a heavy drug-addict (cocaine).
We have a 16 months old DD together and he is not on the birth certificate.
The picture his solicitor tried to paint at trial was one of a desperate father trying to access his daughter (he doesn't have any feelings for her tbh as much as it pains me to say).
Anyhow on the off chance that when he is out, he tries to apply for PR:

• do I have a chance to fight it?

Eg it won't be given to him?

• has anybody experienced this in family court?

He hasn't had any access to his younger son (previous relationship - 10yo) in three years on court orders. Sentencing is at the end of the month and I'll probably be granted a indefinite restraining order.

• can a court force me to go to mediation with him on that basis?
• to even sit in the same court room as him? I had to give evidence behind a screen.

Thanks for your replies!

I'm not a lawyer but my understanding is that if he is biologically the birth father he can't be denied his right to pr.

However contact is a totally separate issue. Pr does not entitle him to contact, and court would look at the best interests of your child in relation to contact.

PR can be refused

childlawadvice.org.uk/information-pages/parental-responsibility/

He would need to apply to a court to obtain it, and you can oppose the application. Get proper legal advice on your specific circumstances if it comes to that, because it is not common for it to be refused.

Thank you both

You do stand a chance of resisting him. mrsplum2015 is incorrect in her advice.

Imagine the thought of having to track him down if you want to take her on a holiday abroad, and obtain his permission.

Thank you. I think that with a good legal team, I do stand a chance and to be fair, he is probably just threatening to frighten me.
It's one thing to say it, it's another to turn up in court, pay a solicitor, stay drug-free etc.

Collaborate, are you sure?

If he proves paternity, he will get a declaration of parentage, which will then give him the right to change the register to appear as father, acquiring automatic PR, surely?

Or am I missing something?

If he were to acquire PR, OP, then you can ask the Court to limit that PR by means of

a) a "live with" order so you can appoint a guardian on your death who will get PR when you die, and allow you to do foreign travel without his consent, and

B) a prohibited steps order, saying what he can't interfere in.

@MrsBertBibby Do you mean an application under s55A of the FLA 1986? Have you ever seen it used as a back door method of obtaining PR?

I can't say I have, I can't think when I last had a child whose dad wasn't on the BC, but was still more or less on the scene. But I can't see why it wouldn't work.

My initial reaction is that it would work but then I went and checked the legislation. It isn't enough for the father to be registered. The relevant part of the Children Act 1989 is very specific about the provisions of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 under which the father must be registered in order to acquire PR. That does not include the father getting a declaration of parentage. So I don't think the father gets PR if he gets a declaration. I think he has to apply separately for PR.

That would have been my guess as well, but s55A(7) provides that Where a declaration is made by a court on an application under subsection (1) above, the prescribed officer of the court shall notify the Registrar General, in such a manner and within such period as may be prescribed, of the making of that declaration.

Does that mean the birth certificate would be amended?

Just to add - my assumption it wouldn't work was based on the fact that if it does work, to obtain PR all a father would have to do is apply for a declaration of parentage, and that would make a mockery of the court being able to exercise a discretion on whether to grant PR.

Thanks again for your updates.

May I just ask- admission of paternity (eg me saying he is the father) and PR being granted are two different things, aren't they?
I have had to confirm under oath during the trial that he was her father so all he needs to do is to get the transcripts (and/ or a court order to allow them in the family proceedings) and it will be accepted that he is her dad.
Anyhow best thing for me to take some good legal advice. I have already met with a couple of different solicitors, I still wanted to ask on here as all opinions and experiences are good at this point.
Thanks again

Yes, those are two different things.

I think you're right, prh, having also looked at the registration bit. It's always a little bit more complicated than you first thought!

I think I have the answer. It's in s 4 of the CA:
(1) Where a child’s father and mother were not married to each other at the time of his birth , the father shall acquire parental responsibility for the child if—
(a)he becomes registered as the child’s father under any of the enactments specified in subsection (1A);

(1A)The enactments referred to in subsection (1)(a) are—
(a)paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of section 10(1) and of section 10A(1) of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953;
(b)paragraphs (a), (b)(i) and (c) of section 18(1), and sections 18(2)(b) and 20(1)(a) of the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Scotland) Act 1965; and
(c)sub-paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of Article 14(3) of the Births and Deaths Registration (Northern Ireland) Order 1976.

So the s4 routes to appearing on the birth certificate don't include a s55A declaration.

Can we record this as CPD?

That's what I was referring to last night.

I think we've all learned something!

Thanks for that.
Can I just ask pls, how is paternity established in family court when the father is not on the BC?

• he makes a request and I say yes, he is the father?
• will my admission during the trial and police statements be enough for him to be recognised as the father if the transcripts are produced? Or can I still make it difficult for him/ slow down the process?

Again, I am not trying to be spiteful. He sadly turned out to be somebody completely different than what I believed him to be and he'd put her in real danger.
Thank you

Ultimately you must not lie to the Court, so if you know 100% he is the dad you must admit it.

If you have genuine doubt, then DNA testing is available.

Since we have I think established (how many chargeable hours was that?!) That it won't give him a straight road to PR, you can still oppose that.

The bar for PR is pretty low, I fear, but you are quite right to make him earn it.

Thank you. You've summed it perfectly actually. It's easy to forget that the truth is sometimes the easiest road.
Thanks again all for all your help!

Always* not sometimes!