Procedural Guide to Parental Responsibility Orders under the Children Act 1989: Applicants, MIAMs, service, directions, welfare principles, duration and online pilot (England and Wales)

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Procedural Guide

This Procedural Guide explains the steps for making an application under the Children Act 1989 (ChA 1989) for a parental responsibility order. It sets out who holds parental responsibility, who may apply—such as unmarried fathers, step-parents and female parents—and the pre-action requirements. It also summarises the principles the court applies, the directions it can issue, the presumption of parental involvement, the rules on service, and how long an order lasts.

Under the ChA 1989, parental responsibility means the full range of rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority that the law gives a child’s parent in relation to the child and the child’s property.

Parental responsibility can be obtained in several ways, including:

By agreement;
By an order of the court.

In some situations, people who are neither parents nor step-parents may acquire parental responsibility as a result of other orders. More than one person can hold parental responsibility for the same child at the same time. A parent does not lose parental responsibility if another person gains it, save where an adoption order is made...

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Web page updated on 20/05/2026

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