Usually a child is deemed mature at about 14 years. However, this depends on the child. Parental rights and responsibilities Being a parent means having responsibilities to your child. These responsibilities include the education and necessary support of the child, and exist whether or not the parents were ever married. A custody order can help define and enforce those responsibilities.
Parents also have certain rights.
As with responsibility a court order can help define and enforce any of these rights. Once a court makes an order, these rights and responsibilities are not dependent on each other. For example, a parent may not withhold court ordered support to enforce more visitation, or withhold court ordered visitation to obtain more support. The non-custodial parent refuses to pay child support. The custodial parent refuses to allow visitation.