Parents

Abstract

The word ‘parent’ has different meanings. Married parents, unmarried parents, parents-in-law, adoptive parents, step-parents, foster-parents and god-parents are all ‘parents’. The court in respect of a ward and a local authority when a child is in care can also be described as ‘parents’ as they stand in loco parentis. With some parent-child relationships there is a biological relationship between the parent and child which gives rise to a legal relationship, but with others the relationship may be one created or imposed by the law, e.g. a person with a residence order in his or her favour acquires parental responsibility. Sometimes it is necessary to establish whether a father is the child’s parent in order to establish a legal relationship between him and the child. This may be necessary, for example, to determine whether a father is obliged to pay maintenance to his child (see Chapter 15). Today with DNA and sophisticated blood-testing techniques it is easier to establish who is a child’s biological parent.