Can a solicitor advise

[Delbelleber]

If a father not named on the birth certificate asks his solicitor to arrange a parental rights and responsibility agreement can the solicitor judge the situation for herself and advise the client not to proceed? Or would they have to follow through with the clients wishes without judgment?

There’s no such thing as parental rights. You have a responsibility to your child, not a right over them.

Parental responsibility is granted in all cases where there’s no dispute over paternity, and there isn’t a hugely harmful reason why not. I’m a childcare barrister and have been for 10+ years. I can think of two cases where PR was refused, and both were gang members who had put out orders to kill the mum and child.

Having PR (or not!) has nothing to do with maintenance. The CMS is entirely separate. Parents without PR still have to pay maintenance.

Ultimately, even if he has PR there’s nothing compelling him to use it, so there’s really no downside to it from his perspective. I can’t think what would put him off.

The purpose of PR isn’t really for the parents - it’s for the child, for his or her identity and to show that both parents have a duty of responsibility towards them, whether they choose to use it or not.

To come back to your original question - a solicitor should advise on the likely prospects of success, any benefits and risks, the costs of pursuing an application and so forth. If the client instructs them to proceed against advice, they still have to do so.

I feel my question has been answered now, thank you. I should have worded it differently to make more sense! Without meaning to sound rude you won't guess what has come to light. I would have to explain it which I don't want to do on a public forum.

I'm still waiting to hear anything further from his solicitor.
I replied in email to a written letter. Do you know what way I should expect a reply now?
This whole thing is just constantly swirling round my mind and stressing me out.

If you trust him enough to allow him access to your child then there is no reason the court would care about for him not having parental responsibility and rights.

It will likely be in writing (letter form) if you are unrepresented, which you obviously are based on the fact they’ve contacted you directly previously. If you have a solicitor, they are not able to speak directly with you and must contact you via your solicitor. It will likely take a few days to get you your reply, contact their client, take instructions (which may take a while to get if he wants to think things over) and then dictate a reply, edit for it to be typed, checked then signed and posted, which will all be slowed down due to Covid.