Parental responsibility

[curlew]

We're not married so we have done a parental responsibility declaration thingy so that my dp has rights and responsibility for our children. My brother is also unmarried, but although they live in England, he is AUstralian (with permanent leave to remain in the UK) and his partner is Spanish. The children are also Spanish. Does anyone know if he has to do the parental responsibilty thing too? He seems to think he doesn't because he didn't have to when they lived in Spain, but I'm not so sure. TIA!

Well, Spanish law may well be very different from English law.

Were all the children born in Spain? If so, then it might be a good idea to sort out a parental responsibility agreement now just as insurance. If they were born here after December 2003, then he automatically has pr if his name is on the birth certificate.

Thank you for replying. They were both born in Spain and before 2003. Do you happen to know if(god forbid) something happened to their mother, would they be subject to Spanish or English law? Thank you again!

No real knowledge of that. Presumably they have Spanish grandparents? If your friend does not have parental responsibility, then it may be that the authorities would hand the children over to their maternal grandparents.

Do you know if he is named on their Spanish birth certificates? If not, what proof does he have that he is their father?

The best plan might be for them to sort out a pr agreement and make wills setting out clearly their wishes because, if anything should happen to her, it will be much more difficult to sort out.

Thank you so much, Freckle, for your replies.