What Are My Family and Parental Rights in Northern Ireland?

Who this guide is for

Parents, and other people involved in a child's life, in Northern Ireland who want to know who has parental responsibility, how to agree or go to court about where a child lives and contact with the child, and how child maintenance works. It also covers the basics of getting a divorce or dissolving a civil partnership. The law is the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995. The rules for England, Wales and Scotland are different.

What this guide does not cover

• England, Wales or Scotland: see the England and Wales guide or the Scotland guide.
• Protecting yourself or a child from abuse with a court order: see the domestic abuse court orders guide for Northern Ireland. If you or a child are in danger now, call 999.
• How a court divides money or property after a split, and defended divorces: ask a family solicitor or Advice NI.
• Adoption, fostering, and children in care or social services cases: ask a family solicitor.
• Surrogacy and parental orders: see the surrogacy guide.
• Maternity, paternity, parental or bereavement leave and pay, and flexible working: see the maternity, bereavement and flexible working guides.
• Child Benefit and other benefits: see the benefits guide.
• Whether you can get legal aid: see the legal aid guide for Northern Ireland.
• Parental responsibility for a second female parent or a step-parent by agreement: ask a family solicitor.
• Court fees, forms, how a court case works, and enforcing or changing an existing court order: ask a family solicitor or the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service.
• A child taken abroad, or about to be taken abroad, without agreement: ask a family solicitor straight away.
• Which children child maintenance covers, how much it will be, whether it affects benefits, challenging a decision, and cases where a parent or the child lives abroad: ask Child Maintenance Choices or the Child Maintenance Service.

At a glance

• The mother has parental responsibility automatically.
• A father has parental responsibility if he was married to the mother when the child was born. If he married her after the birth, he has it if he was living in Northern Ireland when they married.
• A father who is not married to the mother has parental responsibility if he is registered as the child's father on or after 15 April 2002. Otherwise he can get it by a parental responsibility agreement with the mother or a court order.
• If parents cannot agree, a family court can make a residence order (where the child lives) or a contact order. The child's welfare is the court's paramount consideration.
• Mediation is voluntary. Family Mediation NI offers free mediation to separated parents who are not in court.
• Child maintenance in Northern Ireland is run by its own Child Maintenance Service. Contact Child Maintenance Choices first.
• Divorce in Northern Ireland: not in the first 2 years of marriage, and you must prove one of five facts. There is no no-fault divorce.

What the rules depend on

1. Where does the child live? Northern Ireland: this guide. England, Wales or Scotland: see that guide.
2. What is your relationship to the child? Mother; father (married to the mother or not; registered as the father on or after 15 April 2002 or not); step-parent; grandparent or other relative. This decides whether you already have parental responsibility and whether you need the court's permission to apply.
3. What do you need? Parental responsibility; where the child lives or contact with the child; or child maintenance.
4. Is there domestic abuse or a risk of harm to you or the child? If yes, you can ask for a protective order: see the domestic abuse court orders guide.

Parental responsibility

Parental responsibility means the legal rights and responsibilities a parent has for a child, such as making important decisions about the child's upbringing.

• The mother has parental responsibility automatically.
• A father has parental responsibility if he was married to the mother at the time of the child's birth.
• A father who marries the mother after the birth has parental responsibility if he was living in Northern Ireland at the time of the marriage.
• A father who is not married to the mother gets parental responsibility if he becomes registered as the child's father. This only applies to registrations on or after 15 April 2002.
• Otherwise, a father can get parental responsibility by making a parental responsibility agreement with the mother, or by asking the court for an order.
• A step-parent can get parental responsibility if the court makes an order on their application.
• A court can end parental responsibility that a father or step-parent got in these ways, on the application of anyone with parental responsibility or, with the court's permission, the child.

Agreeing arrangements for your child

• Parents who separate can often agree the arrangements for their children themselves.
• If they cannot agree, they can ask a family mediator to help. Mediation may be less costly and stressful than going to court.
• Mediation is voluntary. A neutral mediator helps you agree arrangements about the children, money and property.
• Family Mediation NI offers free mediation to separated parents who are not in court. Mediation directed by a court is paid for by legal aid or by the people taking part.
• The England and Wales rule that you must attend a mediation meeting (MIAM) before going to court does not apply in Northern Ireland.

Going to court about a child

• If you cannot agree, you can apply for a residence order or a contact order and ask a family court to decide where the child will live and contact.
• A residence order settles who the child lives with. A contact order requires the person the child lives with to allow the child to visit or stay with the person named in the order, or to have other contact with them.
• The court can also make other Article 8 orders, such as a prohibited steps order or a specific issue order.
• A parent or guardian of the child can apply for any Article 8 order. Some other people can apply for a residence or contact order without the court's permission, for example someone the child has lived with for at least 3 years, or someone who has the consent of everyone with parental responsibility.
• Anyone else, such as a grandparent, must first ask the court for permission (leave) to apply.
• The child's welfare is the court's paramount consideration.

Child maintenance

• In Northern Ireland, child maintenance is the responsibility of the Department for Communities and is run by the Child Maintenance Service (Northern Ireland).
• Contact Child Maintenance Choices first. It gives advice about making a child maintenance arrangement and puts separated parents in contact with the Child Maintenance Service.
• You can agree child maintenance between yourselves (a family-based arrangement) or ask the Child Maintenance Service to work it out.
• Direct Pay: the parents pay each other directly and there are no fees. Collect and Pay: the Child Maintenance Service collects and passes on the money. The paying parent pays a collection fee of 20% on top of the maintenance, and the receiving parent has a 4% collection fee taken off.
• If a paying parent misses a payment or pays late and the Child Maintenance Service has to take enforcement action, enforcement charges are added.
• nidirect has a calculator to estimate child maintenance.

Getting a divorce or dissolving a civil partnership

• You cannot apply in the first 2 years of your marriage or civil partnership.
• There is one ground: the marriage has broken down irretrievably. You must prove one of five facts: adultery; behaviour you cannot reasonably be expected to live with; desertion for 2 years; 2 years' separation and your spouse agrees; or 5 years' separation.
• Northern Ireland has no no-fault divorce. The Department of Finance consulted on changing this in 2025, but no new law has been made.
• The steps: file a petition with the Matrimonial Office; the case is listed in court, and in an undefended case you take an oath or affirmation; the court grants a decree nisi; at least 6 weeks and 1 day later you can apply for the decree absolute, which ends the marriage. If your spouse defends it, the case is heard in the High Court.
• Fees: £326 to lodge the petition; £407 for a court date in the county court (£488 in the High Court); £123 for the decree absolute.
• The court can make orders about money, maintenance and property. You can ask any time after the petition is filed. If it was not in the petition, you may need the court's permission.

Deadlines

• This guide gives no time limit for applying for parental responsibility or for a court order about a child. If you are sent court papers, they say what you must do and by when: get advice straight away.

Money figures

• Collect and Pay collection fees: 20% for the paying parent, 4% for the receiving parent. Direct Pay: no fees.
• Divorce: £326 to lodge the petition; £407 for a court date in the county court (£488 in the High Court); £123 for the decree absolute.
• This guide gives no other court fees, enforcement charges or child maintenance rates.

Traps

• Northern Ireland still uses residence orders and contact orders. Child arrangements orders, form C100 and the MIAM rule are England and Wales only.
• An unmarried father registered as the father before 15 April 2002 did not get parental responsibility by being registered.
• The Northern Ireland Child Maintenance Service is separate from the one for England, Wales and Scotland, and has its own phone number.
• Collect and Pay costs both parents money. Direct Pay has no fees.