The Children Act 1989 has defined parental responsibility 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/her property' (S3(1)).

The following people automatically hold parental responsibility:

• Any mother.
• A mother and father who were married to each other at the time of the birth, even if they separate or divorce.
• The unmarried father does not have parental responsibility unless he acquires it by the following means:

1. By a formal agreement with the mother. This must be made on a specific form and recorded in a certain manner. Forms are available from legal stationers, Citizen Advice Bureaux, law centres or specialist services such as THT.
2. By being appointed guardian either by the court or through the mother's will.
3. Through a parental responsibility order made by the court. The court must be satisfied that making an order would be better than not making an order.
4. By being granted a residence order by the court – the court is obliged to grant a parental responsibility order (Children Act 1989).

More than one person may have parental responsibility at one time, which does not cease just because another person gains parental responsibility. They may act independently from one another unless the action requires the consent of other parties with parental responsibility. If there is disagreement about an action, for example schooling, then the person not in agreement may as a last resort go to court to try and stop the action.

Sometimes parental responsibility is granted to people or statutory bodies for specific periods of times and in specific instances. For example, if a relative has cared for the children and is granted a residence order, then this person gains parental responsibility for the length of time the children are with them. Other specific instances are when there are emergency orders, and care orders where the local authority are granted parental responsibility.

These people or statutory bodies do not have the full parental responsibility. A local authority is also not able to bring the child up in any religious persuasion other than what the child is used to. Parents still have parental responsibility if there is an emergency protection or care order.