Parental responsibility for unmarried fathers: know your rights

About parental responsibility and what it includes

Parental responsibility is about making decisions which affect a child's welfare. A person with parental responsibility for a child will have certain:

rights
powers and authority
duties
responsibilities

Parental responsibility includes:

where the child should live
the child's education
applying for a passport
significant movement of the child such as:

leaving the country for a holiday
leaving the jurisdiction or emigrating

the child's name, including changes to name by Deed Poll
protecting the child
the child's religious upbringing
consent to the child's medical treatment
consent to freeing the child for adoption
looking after the child's property, such as inheritance
the child's burial or cremation

Protecting your child’s wellbeing

Sometimes families may not agree and in these situations, it’s important to focus on what is best for the child’s wellbeing.

For advice contact the Children and Families Hub by calling + 44 (0) 1534 519000 or by emailing childrenandfamilieshub@gov.je.

Changes to parental responsibility

The Children and Civil Status Law came into force on 24 November 2025. It created new ways to become a legal parent and gain parental responsibility for:

same-sex female parents
mixed-sex parents who use fertility treatments with donor sperm
parents have children through surrogacy, including single parents, mixed-sex parents, and same-sex male parents
stepparents
parents in a civil partnership

All children born on or after 24 November 2025

For parents who are married or civil partners to each other at the time of the child’s birth, both parents have automatic parental responsibility in the following circumstances:

if a child’s Mother and Father were married or civil partners with each other at the time of birth, both have automatic parental responsibility
if a child’s Mother and Father were married or civil partners with each other at the time of birth and consented to assisted reproduction, both have automatic parental responsibility
if a child’s Mother and Second Parent were married or civil partners with each other at the time of birth and consented to assisted reproduction, both have automatic parental responsibility

In cases where the parents are not married or civil partners to each other at the time of the child’s birth, the following applies:

Mothers have automatic parental responsibility
Fathers may gain parental responsibility if:

they are registered on the child’s birth certificate
a Parental Responsibility Agreement is made with the Mother
a court order grants them parental responsibility

Second Parents may gain parental responsibility if:

they are registered on the child’s birth certificate
a Parental Responsibility Agreement is made with the Mother
a court order grants them parental responsibility

Children born to same-sex female parents before 24 November 2025

In cases where children were born to same-sex female parents before the new changes to the law came into force, the following applies:

Mothers have automatic parental responsibility
the Second Parent may gain parental responsibility by being re-registered on their child’s birth certificate. Parents should speak to the Superintendent Registrar about re-registration
same-sex female parents may have existing parental responsibility if they already have a residence order or if they have adopted their child. If they have adopted their child, they do not need to re-register the birth as the adoption certificate proves legal parental status and parental responsibility

Children registered to mixed-sex parents before and after 2016

Registration after 2 December 2016

For children registered to mixed-sex parents after 2 December 2016, the following applies:

Mothers have automatic parental responsibility
Fathers have automatic parental responsibility if they were married to the Mother at the time of birth
if a Father was not married to a Mother at the time of birth, he has parental responsibility if:

he is registered on the child’s birth certificate
a Parental Responsibility Agreement is made with the Mother
a court order grants the Father parental responsibility

Registration before 2 December 2016

For children who were registered to mixed-sex parents before 2 December 2016, the following applies:

Mothers have automatic parental responsibility
Fathers have automatic parental responsibility if they were married to the Mother at the time of birth
Unmarried Fathers may not gain parental responsibility via registration if they were originally registered on their child’s birth certificate before 2 December 2016. These Fathers may have parental responsibility if:

a Parental Responsibility Agreement is made with the Mother
a court order grants him parental responsibility
they have subsequently married the child’s Mother.
they have subsequently entered into a civil partnership with the child’s Mother

Stepchildren

Stepparents may gain parental responsibility through a Parental Responsibility Agreement with their stepchild’s other parents and all other people with parental responsibility for the child. No parent will lose parental responsibility for the child. The stepparent will gain parental responsibility together with the other parents.

Children born in Jersey through surrogacy

When a child is born in Jersey through surrogacy, the following applies:

the surrogate has automatic parental responsibility at birth. The surrogate must be registered as the birth Mother
the Father or Second Parent of the surrogate child may gain parental responsibility by being registered on the birth certificate. Parents should speak to the Superintendent Registrar and seek legal advice on whether a receiving parent is eligible to be registered at birth
the receiving parent or parents may gain parental responsibility through a Parental Order granted by the Court. At least one of the receiving parent or parents should be genetic parent to the child. They should apply for a Parental Order before the child is 6 months old. The surrogate may give consent for the granting of the Parental Order no sooner than six weeks after the birth
the Parental Order will end the parental responsibility of the surrogate and any other person other than the applicants with parental responsibility before the granting of the order
the surrogate will have parental responsibility until the Parental Order is granted

Other individuals who may hold parental responsibility for a child

Someone else can have parental responsibility for a child if either:

a custody order or a residence order has been made in their favour
they have responsibility for the child under an emergency protection order
they are a guardian of the child
they have adopted the child

Find out more about who can hold parental responsibility on our Changes to the law around Children and their Civil Status page.

Parental Responsibility Agreements

A Parental Responsibility Agreement is a legal document whereby the child's Mother, Father, Second Parent, or stepparent agree who should have parental responsibility in addition to the those who have already obtained parental responsibility automatically at birth, through registration on a child’s birth certificate, or through another means such as adoption, Parental Order or residence order.

It must be drawn up and signed on a special Parental Responsibility Agreement form, which can be obtained from the Judicial Greffe.

Before entering into an agreement, it is recommended to seek legal advice about what it will mean for the child's parents.

For more information about Parental Responsibility Agreements or applying for a Court Order, contact the Family Division of the Royal Court by:

emailing jgrprivatefamily@courts.je
calling +44 (0) 1534 441336

Children on Courts.je

Registration and re-registration of birth

To register or re-register your child’s birth contact the Office of the Superintendent Registrar by:

emailing sir@gov.je
calling +44 (0) 1534 441335, Monday to Thursday, 8.30am to 5pm and Friday, 8.30am to 4.30pm

How to find out more

Children and adoption law on the Jersey Law website

Registering your child's birth

The Family Court

Changes to the law around Children and their Civil Status

Parental responsibility: know your rights

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​About parental responsibility and what it includes