I am father of a baby girl. I want to confirm my parental rights. How do I do it?

When it comes to children, the law mandates that we always prioritise the child’s best interests. It is  beneficial for a child to maintain a healthy and loving relationship with both parents. Concurrently, a parent has the right to be involved in their child’s life, provided that such involvement aligns with the child’s best interests. This article addresses the process by which a father can establish his parental responsibilities and rights concerning his child.

Confirming a father’s Parental Responsibilities and Rights to his Child

In the past, terms like Custody and Access were used for parental rights. Now, the terms Care and Contact are used. The Children’s Act of 2005 states that both parents have full parental responsibilities and rights, with some exceptions. If there is a dispute, the father may need to apply to the High Court to confirm his rights, which can be costly. It is advised to consult an attorney or advocate.

The Court Application

A Notice of Motion must be drafted, supported by a Founding Affidavit, and sometimes confirmatory affidavits. These documents are filed with the Family Advocate’s Office. Once served, the mother can file opposing papers, and the father can reply. A court date will be set, and a Judge will decide the matter, possibly with a Family Advocate’s Report. Urgent applications require experienced legal counsel.

The father would essentially be requesting the following:

An Order directing that both parties (mother and father) share parental responsibilities and rights regarding the minor child, in accordance with the Children’s Act, 38 of 2005 (“the Children’s Act”), as follows:
  • Both parties are co-holders of guardianship over the minor child as stipulated in Section 18(2(c); 18(3); 18(4) and 18(5) of the Children’s Act.
  • Both parties shall share parental responsibilities and rights of care and contact concerning the minor child, as outlined in Section 18(2)(a) and (b) of the Children’s Act.
  • The implementation of these rights of care and contact.
The Court will consider the matter and render a decision. If the outcome is favorable, the Court would issue an Order affirming the father’s parental responsibilities and rights.

Sharing Information

This and other articles available on this website are authored by Adv. Muhammad Abduroaf to assist individuals with various family law-related issues. If you find our articles, free resources, and posts beneficial or potentially helpful to others, please like and share them on social media by clicking the icons below. For more insightful articles and information on Family Law, visit our articles and Q&A page. If you have a legal issue related to family law and seek an answer or response, feel free to post it on our Family Law Blog. Therefore, kindly like and share. For any other legal services and advice not pertaining to family law, please visit Private Legal.  
Posted on by Telelaw

I am father of a baby girl. I want to confirm my parental rights. How do I do it?

When it comes to children, the law mandates that we always prioritise the child’s best interests. It is  beneficial for a child to maintain a healthy and loving relationship with both parents. Concurrently, a parent has the right to be involved in their child’s life, provided that such involvement aligns with the child’s best interests. This article addresses the process by which a father can establish his parental responsibilities and rights concerning his child.

Confirming a father’s Parental Responsibilities and Rights to his Child

In the past, terms like Custody and Access were used for parental rights. Now, the terms Care and Contact are used. The Children’s Act of 2005 states that both parents have full parental responsibilities and rights, with some exceptions. If there is a dispute, the father may need to apply to the High Court to confirm his rights, which can be costly. It is advised to consult an attorney or advocate.

The Court Application

A Notice of Motion must be drafted, supported by a Founding Affidavit, and sometimes confirmatory affidavits. These documents are filed with the Family Advocate’s Office. Once served, the mother can file opposing papers, and the father can reply. A court date will be set, and a Judge will decide the matter, possibly with a Family Advocate’s Report. Urgent applications require experienced legal counsel.

The father would essentially be requesting the following:

An Order directing that both parties (mother and father) share parental responsibilities and rights regarding the minor child, in accordance with the Children’s Act, 38 of 2005 (“the Children’s Act”), as follows:

  • Both parties are co-holders of guardianship over the minor child as stipulated in Section 18(2(c); 18(3); 18(4) and 18(5) of the Children’s Act.
  • Both parties shall share parental responsibilities and rights of care and contact concerning the minor child, as outlined in Section 18(2)(a) and (b) of the Children’s Act.
  • The implementation of these rights of care and contact.

The Court will consider the matter and render a decision. If the outcome is favorable, the Court would issue an Order affirming the father’s parental responsibilities and rights.

Sharing Information

This and other articles available on this website are authored by Adv. Muhammad Abduroaf to assist individuals with various family law-related issues. If you find our articles, free resources, and posts beneficial or potentially helpful to others, please like and share them on social media by clicking the icons below. For more insightful articles and information on Family Law, visit our articles and Q&A page. If you have a legal issue related to family law and seek an answer or response, feel free to post it on our Family Law Blog. Therefore, kindly like and share.

For any other legal services and advice not pertaining to family law, please visit Private Legal.

 

Related Post

Child custody disputes during the Covid-19 pandemic and the Lockdown – What impact did the National Lockdown have on it?

With three months into the national lockdown, no one will dispute that it had a profound effect on all aspects of daily life. The same would apply to marriages, family relations and co-parenting to mention a few. A lot has been written on the topic of the movement of children during the lockdown. At the start of the lockdown, the movement of children was prohibited. The child had to remain with the parent with whom he or she was with at the start of the lockdown. A few weeks into the lockdown, things changed. Children could move between parents if there were a court order, parental rights and responsibilities agreement or parenting plan registered with the office of the family advocate. Later, things further developed where the magistrate’s permit came into play. Read more above the changes to the regulations over time by clicking on this link. You would find an extensive overview of the history of the movement of children during the lockdown.

Have child custody disputes increased three months after the start of the lockdown?

One would be a fool to say that all things are the same three months after the lockdown when it comes to parental problems. At the start of the lockdown, Our Lawyer (Pty) Ltd received a lot of queries regarding regulations concerning the movement of children. This was so especially during the first few weeks. However, looking at various analytics, including the number of queries received on its blogs, and email and telephone queries, it would seem that the numbers have not increased much if any. This is a broad assumption, and not based on any empirical data. Those numbers are in contrast to that of child maintenance disputes which have always been high during the lockdown.

What can be said about this assumed drop in numbers?

Considering the Covid-19 pandemic, and its associated lockdown, children and parents were at home for an extremely long time. Many children are still at home and some parents did not go back to work. Furthermore, many nannies are not there to assist. During times like these, parents would set aside their differences and find common ground. If a parent decided not to allow the other parent contact, it would mean that he or she would have to care for the child the entire day and night for very long periods. This is so as the child would not be attending school and would have to be cared for and entertained the entire day. This is not only exhausting but expensive as well.

Moving forward during the lockdown

Although the economy is slowly spinning its wheels, and children are returning to school, now more than ever, parents must work together for the sake of their children, and their own sake. With jobs being lost and money being scarce, personal differences need to be put aside and the situation needs to be looked at clearly and rationally. It would be hard for a parent to care for a child alone during the lockdown, especially if there is assistance available. Having said that, parents should continue to adequately maintain their children during this period, and ensure that all their basic needs are met. We are certain that you found the above article useful and interesting. Please consider sharing it on the share buttons below. They include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Gmail and more. Someone may find it useful as well. Should you require business advice or services, feel free to click on these links: Business SA | Private Legal | Envirolaws
Posted on by Telelaw