Many people wrongly assume that parents always automatically have parental responsibility for their children. This is not the case.

Furthermore, step-parents and partners of mums or dads may have no rights to act to help them out in an emergency without specifically getting a parental responsibility agreement.

While for most this will not be a major issue, what it does mean is that every school holiday and weekend when children go to visit their non-resident parent, many don’t have anyone on hand who is legally able to take important decision for them.

This means if a child needs urgent hospital treatment, for instance, doctors will not be able to proceed unless the parent with parental responsibility can be contacted to give permission.

Parental responsibility is defined as ‘all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and his property”. It means a person has all the legal powers to make appropriate decisions in relation to the upbringing of a child.

A mother automatically has parental responsibility for her child, as does a married father irrespective of whether the marriage to the mother occurred before or after the birth of the child. As from the 1st December 2003, unmarried fathers of children born after this date, provided they are named on the birth certificate of the child, also have parental responsibility. Which means fathers whose son or daughter is more than five years four months old, who are not married to the child’s mother and not on the birth certificate, may not be able to make important decisions for their child.

“On a practical level, having parental responsibility will, amongst other things, allow you to contact your child’s GP to obtain or discuss medical treatment for your child and to play an active role in your child’s education, giving you access to school reports, parents evenings, and that sort of thing,” said Andrew Woolley, managing partner of Woolley & Co family law specialists.

“In most instances, this is not a huge issue but it comes to the fore at times like school holidays when a child might spend more time with the parent they do not ordinarily live with. And it is better to advise a client to address the issue earlier rather than later if it does affect them.”

If you are a father who does not have parental responsibility it can be obtained by:

• marrying the mother of the child which is not always an option
• entering into a voluntary Parental Responsibility Agreement with the mother
• obtaining an order of the court (Parental Responsibility Order).

Step-parents can also obtain parental responsibility through a court order or a parental responsibility agreement, with the consent of the others who do have parental responsibility.

For advice or more information on parental responsibility, contact Woolley & Co on 0800 321 3832.

Over nearly 20 years working as a specialist in pensions, George Mathieson has established a reputation as a leading expert in the field.

He set up his own business, Mathieson Consulting Limited, last year and is now very much in demand helping to sort out often complex and high-value pension matters relating to divorce.

“I started in banking and worked my way up through the ranks before specialising in pensions and investments, and then becoming a specialist in pensions and divorce,” said George, who is based in Birmingham but advises clients across the country.

“I did go back into banking briefly a couple of years ago but found I was getting less and less chance to concentrate on what I loved best – helping estranged couples sort out pension matters as part of a divorce. So I decided to start my own company specialising exclusively in this field.

“This means I can now dedicate all my time to pensions issues. Every case is different and it involves coming up with pragmatic solutions to complex situations.

“Often calling on a divorce and pensions expert to help sort out the finances is not the first thing on people’s minds – but it can make or save thousands of pounds and lead to a more amicable solution for all concerned.”

The services provided by George include expert witness reports, calculations for equality of Income, appraisal and forensic examination of pension disclosure on Forms E and advising on alternative remedies of offsetting, attachment, and Pension Sharing Orders.

George can be contacted at george@mathiesonconsulting.co.uk or by calling 0121 240 7971.

Tycoon divorce settlement stands

A City tycoon hit by the recession has failed in court to cut an £11m divorce settlement with his former wife, reports the BBC.

Brian Myerson, aged 50, agreed the deal from £25.8m of assets, including shares in his company, last year.

But he made a legal bid to get the amount slashed, telling the Court of Appeal the value of the shares had dropped so much that instead of receiving £14.6m, he was half-a-million out of pocket.

Three appeal judges this month ruled that "natural price fluctuation" did not justify a change in the settlement.

This case is in contrast to that of former Monty Python star John Cleese. He was paying £1.3 million a year but, due to recession, he has just been able to reduce the payments by half.

“In times of financial turmoil husbands may prefer now to opt to pay maintenance which is variable in times of hardship, rather than giving the former wife capital in a once and for all deal, which has been the case until now,” said Woolley & Co family lawyer Karen Agnew-Griffith.

Second marriages blamed for unlikely trend

Second marriages or starting afresh with a new partner are leading to scores of men spending large sums of money trying to undo vasectomies.

The BBC reports that vasectomy is more popular in the UK than almost anywhere else and remarriages now account for nearly 40 per cent of weddings - and with that some men want to reawaken their chances of having more children.

But with reversals not common on the NHS, many are forced to raid savings to reverse their operations. Let’s just hope they also invest to protect their finances in the future with an appropriate prenuptial agreement.

Boffins calculate perfect marriage formula

A team of British and US mathematicians believe they have succeeded where millions have failed – coming up with the formula for the perfect marriage.

They analysed 700 newlyweds and, by looking at their behaviour, believe they can predict whether a marriage will work or not with 94 per cent accuracy.

It categorises people into one of five types of couples, some stable and some unstable, of which only one is “guaranteed” to reach old age together.

The testing involved taking each couple and presenting them with topics for discussion, which were likely to lead to an argument, such as money, in-laws and love-life issues.

Asked if he’d take the test Woolley & Co Managing Partner Andrew Woolley said, “You must be joking – I’ve been married for 25 years and I’d be too worried it would put a ‘hex’ on my marriage!”

Petra and Kelly bolster the team

Woolley & Co have welcomed two new family experts into the fold already this month – further proof that the firm is going from strength to strength and attracting top level family lawyers.

Kelly Glenn, based in East Leake and covering the whole of Nottinghamshire, has been practising law for seven years and specialises in all aspects of family law, from pre-nuptial agreements and divorce, to financial and children matters.

“I love dealing with people on a personal level and family law is all about working in that way,” said Kelly, who before joining Woolley & Co was a partner at a firm in Daventry.

Petra Salt is based near Stafford and covers Staffordshire, Shropshire and Cheshire. She has worked in the legal sector for 11 years. Petra, who most recently worked for a law firm in Stoke on Trent, graduated with a degree in law from Staffordshire University before completing a Masters in criminology at Keele University.

Andrew Woolley, managing partner of Woolley & Co, said: “It’s great to have Kelly and Petra on board to further strengthen our team. And we are still recruiting, with a particular focus on Stratford-upon-Avon and the wider West Midlands so if anyone in your network is an experienced family lawyer ask them to contact us.”

A third recruit, Judith Buckland, is due to join Woolley & Co before the end of April. See our next ezine for more details.