Can a stepmother have parental responsibility for a child?

A stepmother can make a formal agreement with the parent or parents who have parental responsibility.

A special form must be used. It is called a Step-parent parental responsibility agreement form. This is Form C(PRA2).  The form can be requested from a local Family Court office. Or it can be downloaded from the court service here.

After the form is filled in, it must be signed by a court officer and sent to the Central Family Court. The address is on the form.

If there is one parent who has parental responsibility for the child, the form only needs to be signed by them. If both the child’s parents have parental responsibility, they will both need to sign.

These points explain in more detail what is involved and include some tips:

• A separate form must be filled in for each child
• Use black ink to fill in the form
• Once the form is filled in the parent(s) with parental responsibility AND the step-mother need to take the form to a local Family Court
• Make sure you have the child’s birth certificate and take this to the court too
• Each parent and the stepmother need to take to the court proof of their identity. This needs to show their photo and their signature. This could be a passport or driving licence, for example
• Ask for someone at the court to witness each parent sign the form. And to then sign the form themselves (the part called certificate of the witness)
• Any of the following people at the court can do this: a Justice of the Peace, a Justices’ Clerk, a court official who is authorised by the judge to administer oaths to witness your signatures.

When the certificate has been signed and witnessed then:

• Make copies of the agreement so you have one for your own records and so do the parent(s) with parental responsibility already
• Send the original form with the signed certificate of witness to the Central Family Court so that the agreement can be recorded by the court. The address of the Central Family Court is on the form. The address is: The Central Family Court, First Avenue House, 42-49 High Holborn, London WC1V 6NP.
• The Central Family Court will record the Agreement and keep the original. The copies will be stamped and returned to each parent at the addresses given on the Agreement. The Agreement will not take effect until it has been recorded at Central Family Court.

If there is no agreement, a stepmother can decide to apply to the Family Court for:

• A parental responsibility order (see section 4A of the Children Act 1989) or
• A child arrangements order saying where the child should live (see section 8 of the Children Act 1989) which gives the holder of the order parental responsibility for as long as the order is in place.

To apply for a child arrangements order, a stepmother will first need the Family Court’s permission. But a stepmother who already has parental responsibility (by agreement or via a parental responsibility order) will not need the permission of the Family Court to apply for a child arrangement order.

For more information about applying to the court for an order, stepmothers may want to seek legal advice. If children’s services are involved, then a stepmother can:

• Post a question on our Parents Forum and receive advice from one of Family Rights Group’s expert advisers
• If needing further or more detailed advice, call Family Rights Group’s specialist legal and practice advice line on 0808 801 0366 (the advice line is open Monday to Friday, from 9.30 am to 3 pm excluding bank holidays)
• Take legal advice from a solicitor. Find a solicitor who is a specialist in children law. Or who has Children Law Accreditation. To find a solicitor, search using the ‘how to find a solicitor’ function on the Law Society website. See our Working with a solicitor guide on our Top tips and templates page for more information about finding and working with a solicitor.

And in situations not involving children’s services, stepmothers:

• Can still seek legal advice from a solicitor via the Law Society website (see above)
• Can contact the Child Law advice service for legal information and advice.