How to contact us for advice
We provide advice to parents, grandparents, relatives, friends and kinship carers who are involved with children’s services in England or need their help. We can help you understand processes and options when social workers or courts are making decisions about your child’s welfare.
Our advice service is free, independent and confidential.
To speak to an adviser, please call our free and confidential advice line 0808 801 0366 (Monday to Friday 9.30am to 3pm, excluding Bank Holidays). For Textphone dial 18001 followed by the advice line number. Or you can ask us a question via email using our advice enquiry form.
Our online advice forums are an anonymous space where parents and kinship carers (also known as family and friends carers) can get legal and practical advice, build a support network and learn from other people’s experiences.
Our get help and advice section describes the processes that you and your family are likely to go through, so that you know what to expect. Our webchat service can help you find the information and advice on our website which will help you understand the law and your rights.
A person with parental responsibility is responsible for the care and wellbeing of their child. Section 3 of the Children Act 1989 explains parental responsibility as “All the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority, which by law a parent has in relation to the child…”.
Unless a Family Court order says something different, a person with parental responsibility can make important decisions about a child’s life.
All birth mothers have parental responsibility for their child, unless their child has since been adopted. See our Mothers page for information about mothers, stepmothers, second female parents and parental responsibility.
A father may have, or obtain, parental responsibility for a child depending on the situation. See our Fathers page for information and advice about fathers, stepfathers and parental responsibility.
See our Kinship carers page for information about what happens to parental responsibility when a child is raised in different types of kinship care arrangement.
It may be helpful to open or download our guide Parental responsibility – quick facts. This includes a table showing who has parental responsibility. And the different people who can obtain it. It also answers questions about:
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