What
are parental rights and
responsibility?
If a married couple have jointly adopted a child, then they both have
parental responsibility. This is not usually the case for unmarried
parents.
With the rights and responsibility to make important decisions about
your child's life in areas like education and even medical treatment,
it is very important to make the correct decision when it comes to
parental rights.
Current law says a mother always has parental rights and responsibility
for her child or children. The father has this responsibility only if
he is married to the mother. Living with the mother does not
automatically give a father parental responsibility or rights, even if
it is for a long time. Parental rights do not always pass to the
natural father if the mother dies and the parents were not married.
The courts take the time to make these decisions according to a child's
best interest. Parental rights and responsibility does not always mean
paying child support or anything of that nature. All birth or adoptive
parents have a financial and legal duty of support for their child or
children.
What can single fathers and
mothers do?
Single fathers and mothers can
gain parental rights for their children
in several different ways. Most of the time they hire a
private investigator. The investigator can do surveillance
or background
checks on the other parent to
see if they are in anyway unfit of taking care of the child.
In order for the court to
grant parental responsibility, they look into many personal aspects of
the father and mother. In most cases the court will take the
following
into account:
- The degree of attachment
between parent and child
- The commitment shown by the
parent to his child
- Any evidence showing the
parent is unfit
After all the documents are in and the case has been presented, the
court will then decide to accept or reject the parents application
based on what it believes is in the best interest for the child.