It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

But what does Christmas look like to you? Its not just nuclear families with mum, dad and 2.1 kids pulling crackers at the dinner table and rocking around the Christmas tree this Christmas. Blended families are becoming more and more the norm in modern life.

In these new step families, what rights and responsibilities do the step-parents have towards their step-children? The answer is none automatically. Whether you’re a new wicked step mother or you’ve brought the children up as your own, you don’t have parental responsibility by way of being married to their birth parent. This can only be acquired by way of formal agreement or court order.

If you want to make important decisions on behalf of the child for example consent to medical treatment or deciding what school they will go to, then you must seek advice on getting parental responsibility for the child.

If this is something that might affect you, drop Parisa a line at parisa@kleymansolcitiors.com for more details.

Kleyman & Co Solicitors.  The full service law firm.  A step in the right direction.