Query: Who has parental responsibility during a divorce or separation?
Context: If you have parental responsibility before you separate from or divorce your child’s parent, you will not lose it because of the separation or divorce.
If you were married when your child was born, both you and your spouse automatically have parental responsibility.  A mother has parental responsibility from the birth of the child regardless of whether she is married to the father.  If the father is not married to the mother when the child is born, they do not automatically have parental responsibility but will acquire it if their name is on the child’s birth certificate, if they have a Court Order granting it or if they have a legally binding agreement with the mother.