Applying for parental responsibility - anyone else done this?

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I'm very excited because dp and I have got a court date this month for me to get parental responsibility - means I'm offically a parent! I'll be able to sign medical forms/school things etc.

I wondered has anyone else been through this, as fathers in unmarried couples also don't automatically have parental responsibility. I know aswell that grandparents or anyone living at home with the child can apply for PR. I'm quite nervous as we have to actually attend court, and I'm not sure what's going to happen... has anyone got any experience of this??!

yes Bob Geldolf did get custody of paulas little girl but I am always a bit cynical when its someone with money(and celebrity) as to whether this carries more weight in their favour IYSWIM

God, I think I'm going to sort out my will NOW!!!

Can anyone recommend some inexpensive way of doing it yourself?

pie, there is a charity that organises a free-will-but-give-us-a-donation service once a year. Can't remember who or when though...anybody?

Just googled - this site does it half price (£32.87 inc p & p):

www.thewillsite.co.uk/wills_offers.html

(unless you are 65 or over! Then it's free.)

Thanks janh, I'll check it out.

I looked at the site for registry of births, marriages and deaths and there is a way of re-registering your child's birth if you subsequently marry the father. According to the site, a new birth certificate is issued (presumably with the changed name of the mother) and all forms, etc, used by the child later are issued from the new certificate. It says you have to fill in a form LA1. I do remember when dh and I registered dd's birth before we were married that the registrar said we could re-register her after we got married but I had completely forgotten. Thanks to the power of mumsnet I have been reminded (special thanks to www) and dh and I are really keen to do this.

I just thought I'd update this since the registry office have sent me a leaflet telling me the law has just changed. I quote: "The law is changing to make it easier for unmarried fathers to get equal parental responsibility: from 1 December 2003, all you have to do is for both parents to register the birth of your baby together." This resolves a big headache for us anyway since otherwise dp wouldn't have PR for dd until we got the PR form or got married, neither of which would have happened in the next month or so.

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Hello

Is there anyone who can offer me a bit of advice. I have a little boy of three and i am not with his dad, we have never been married or lived together but he has been seeing him regularly (weekly) and paying maintenance.

After a big argument this evening which lasted over two hours! he has threatened to take me to court to obtain more time with our son, for personal reasons I dont really want to go into it too deeply but I am a fair mother, never stop our son seeing his dad in fact I actively encourage it whilst I get the 'I can't Im busy' response to this from him and his family.

I feel really cross as I feel i am fair to him that he just wants to throw this in my face in spite. Is there any way you can oppose an application for parental responsibility or court order? where can I find any information about this, our son is three years old and has never been interested in making any decisions before, the only thing is a few months ago we added his fathers name to the birth certificate but we didnt register him together, he wasnt even there for the birth.
Where do I stand??? can anyone help? I dont want to be dragged through the courts for him to spend more time with him, our doesnt even phone ourson or me when our son is really ill, let alone any time i actually need them, I feel really alone in this at the moment, hes trying to be spiteful and I wonder what he hopes to achieve by all this.. I work all week making sure everythings just perfect for our home and bills etc I really value the weekends my son and I spend together, he sees him on a sunday and if they want him any other days, but he wants him friday night to sunday morning, bearing in mind hes never had him overnight before . Sorry to ramble...
Can anyone offer me any advice?