Amendments in Part 1 of Schedule 6
Population (Statistics) Act 1938
190.Paragraph 1 of Schedule 6 amends the Population (Statistics) Act 1938 to enable the statistical data collected at birth registration, where a child is born to female same-sex parents, to include information relating to the age of the second female parent and the date of formation of any civil partnership.
Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953
191.Paragraphs 2 and 3 of Schedule 6 amend sections 1 and 2 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 (particulars of births to be registered and information concerning birth to be given to registrar within 42 days) (“the 1953 Act”) so that the provisions extend to include a woman who is the parent of a child by virtue of section 42 or 43 of the Act. She is to be treated as the father for the purposes of the provisions.
192.Paragraphs 4 and 5 amend sections 9 and 10 of the 1953 Act (registration of father where parents are not married) so as to make provision for registration of the birth of a child where the second female parent of the child is not the civil partner of the mother (i.e where section 43 of the Act applies).
193.Paragraph 6 substitutes section 10ZA of the 1953 Act (registration of father by virtue of certain provisions of the 1990 Act) with a new section that applies both to fathers and to women who are to be treated as a parent by virtue of section 46 of the Act.
194.Paragraph 7 amends section 10A of the 1953 Act (re-registration where parents are not married) so that it applies to re-registration where a woman is a parent of a child by virtue of section 43 or 46(1) or (2) of the Act.
195.Paragraph 8 amends section 13 of the 1953 Act (registration of name or of alteration of name) so that a woman who is a parent of a child by virtue of section 42 or 43 of the Act is treated in the same way as a father of a child.
196.Paragraph 9 amends section 14 of the 1953 Act (re-registration of births of legitimated persons) to reflect the amendments of the Legitimacy Act 1976 as outlined below so that section 14 applies in the case of a legitimated person who is the child of a person who is the parent of the child by virtue of section 43 of the Act.
197.Paragraph 10 amends section 29A of the 1953 Act (alternative procedure for certain corrections of the register) so as to provide for correction of the register where a woman is wrongly registered as a parent of a person by virtue of section 42, 43 or 46(1) or (2) of the Act.
Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Special Provisions) Act 1957
198.Paragraph 11 of Schedule 6 extends section 3A of the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Special Provisions) Act 1957 (alternative procedure for certain corrections to the register) (“the 1957 Act”) so as to provide for correction of the register where a woman is wrongly registered as a parent of a person by virtue of section 42, 43 or 46(1) or (2) of the Act.
199.Paragraph 12 amends section 5 of the 1957 Act (registration or re-registration of births of legitimated persons in the Service Departments Registers) to make provision in respect of the Service Departments Registers for a second female parent of a child, by virtue of section 43 of the Act, to register or re-register a child following the subsequent formation of a civil partnership between the child’s parents.
Family Law Reform Act 1969
200.Paragraph 13 of Schedule 6 amends the definition of “excluded” in section 25 of the Family Law Reform Act 1969 (interpretation of Part 3) so as to include a reference to sections 33 to 47 of the Act. The definition is relevant to section 20 of the 1969 Act which concerns the situation where the parentage of any person falls to be determined in civil proceedings. A report to the court must state whether any party to whom the report relates is or is not excluded by the results from being the father or mother of the person whose parentage is to be determined.
Congenital Disabilities (Civil Liability) Act 1976
201.Paragraph 14 of Schedule 6 amends section 1 of the Congenital Disabilities (Civil Liability) Act 1976 (civil liability to a child who is born disabled) (“the 1976 Act”) to extend the reference to “father” to include a woman who is the second female parent of a child by virtue of section 42 or 43 of the Act.
202.Paragraph 15 amends section 4 of the 1976 Act (interpretation) so that references in section 1 of the Act to a parent include a person who would be a parent, but for sections 33 to 47 of the Act.
Legitimacy Act 1976
203.Paragraph 16 insets new section 2A in the Legitimacy Act 1976 and paragraphs 17 to 19 amend sections 3,9 and 10 of that Act. The effect of the amendments is to enable women who enter into a civil partnership, and who have had children together previously by assisted conception, to legitimise those children as from the date of the formation of the civil partnership.
Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980
204.Paragraph 20 amends section 65(1)(na) of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 (meaning of family proceedings) by replacing a reference to section 30 of the 1990 Act (which is repealed by the Act) with a reference to section 54 of the Act (parental orders).
Supreme Court Act 1981
205.Paragraph 21 amends Schedule 1 to the Supreme Court Act 1981 to include parental orders under section 54 of the Act as matters to be assigned to the Family Division of the High Court.
British Nationality Act 1981
206.Paragraph 22 amends subsection (9A) of section 50 of the British Nationality Act 1981 (meaning of a child’s father) to include, as “father” of a child for the purposes of that Act, the person who is to be treated as father of the child under section 28 of the 1990 Act or section 35 or 36 of the Act or as a second female parent of the child under section 42 or 43.
Family Law Act 1986
207.Paragraph 23 inserts a reference to the amendment inserting the new section 2A of the Legitimacy Act 1976 into section 56(5)(a) of the Family Law Act 1986 (declarations of the High Court or a county court regarding the parentage, legitimacy or legitimation of a person). This amendment extends the definition of a “legitimated person” to include someone who becomes legitimated under the new section 2A.
Family Law Reform Act 1987
208.Paragraph 24 amends section 1 of the Family Law Reform Act 1987 (general principles) (“the 1987 Act”) so that references in that Act and Acts passed subsequently to someone whose father and mother were married to each other at the time of birth are extended to include a person who was conceived through assisted conception at a time when their mother was in a civil partnership with another woman, or whose mother and second female parent were treated in a licensed clinic and had a parenthood agreement in force at the time the person’s mother was treated and who were civil partners either at the time of the child’s birth or at any time between treatment and the child’s birth. The amendments provide for civil partnerships which are void to be treated as valid for the purposes of this provision, where either or both of the parties reasonably believed that the civil partnership was valid.
209.Paragraph 25 amends section 18 of the 1987 Act (succession on intestacy) so that references to “father” include a second female parent under section 43 not in a civil partnership. Section 18 sets out the presumption that a person is not survived by a unmarried father who was not married to a child’s mother at the time of birth unless the contrary is shown, in cases of intestacy.
Children Act 1989
210.Paragraph 26 amends section 2 of the Children Act 1989 (“the 1989 Act”) to enable a second female parent to have parental responsibility for a child. A second female parent will have parental responsibility automatically where she and the mother of the child are in a civil partnership at the time of the fertility treatment, or where the mother and second female parent were civil partners either by the time of the child’s birth or at any time between treatment and the child’s birth. The second female parent will also have parental responsibility if she acquires it in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
211.Paragraph 27 inserts a new section 4ZA into the 1989 Act (acquisition of parental responsibility by second female parent under section 43). This new section enables a second female parent to acquire parental responsibility by registering as the child’s parent in the register of births, by making a parental responsibility agreement with the child’s mother, or by obtaining a court order.
212.Paragraph 28 inserts in section 12 of the 1989 Act (residence orders and parental responsibility) a new subsection (1A) which replicates for second female parents the provision for fathers in subsection (1) of that section. This means that where a court makes a residence order in favour of a second female parent under section 43 and she does not already have parental responsibility the court must also make a parental responsibility order under new section 4ZA.
213.Paragraph 29 amends section 91 of the 1989 Act (duration of orders) so that an order or agreement under new section 4ZA continues in force until the child is 18 unless it is brought to an earlier end.
214.Paragraphs 30 and 31 make minor amendments to section 104 (regulations and orders) and section 105 (interpretation) to take account of new section 4ZA.
215.Paragraph 32 extends references in Schedule 1 to the 1989 Act (financial provision for children) so that references to a child’s father will also apply to a second female parent.
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990
216.Paragraph 33 amends section 32 of the 1990 Act to take account of children with a second female parent under section 42 or 43 in cases where the Act enables the HFEA to comply with a request from the Registrar General to disclose information from the HFEA’s register in respect of the parenthood of a child.
217.Paragraph 35 amends section 35 of the 1990 Act (disclosure of information: congenital disabilities) to update the reference to the provisions which determine the legal parenthood of a child if a court makes an order requiring the HFEA to disclose information from the HFEA’s register for the purposes of proceedings under the Congenital Disabilities (Civil Liability) Act 1976.
Child Support Act 1991
218.Paragraph 36 of Schedule 6 amends section 26 of the Child Support Act 1991 (disputes about parentage) to include a reference to parenthood acquired via the new provisions for parental orders in section 54 of the Act; and also to the new parenthood provisions in Part 2 of the Act.
Family Law Act 1996
219.Paragraph 37 amends section 63(2)(h) of the Family Law Act 1996 (definition of family proceedings) by replacing a reference to section 30 of the 1990 Act (which is repealed by the Act) with a reference to section 54 (parental orders) of the Act.
Access to Justice Act 1999
220.Paragraph 38 amends paragraph 2(3)(f) of Schedule 2 to the Access to Justice Act 1999 (community legal services: excluded services) by replacing a reference to section 30 of the 1990 Act (which is repealed by the Act) with a reference to section 54 (parental orders) of the Act.
Adoption and Children Act 2002
221.Paragraph 39 amends section 51 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (adoption by one person) which refers to cases where by virtue of section 28 of the 1990 Act (disregarding subsections (5A) to (5I) of that section) the child has no other parent, to include a references to cases where by virtue of sections 34 to 47 of the Act (disregarding sections 39, 40 and 46) there is no other parent.
Mental Capacity Act 2005
222.Paragraph 40 amends section 27 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (family relationships) to provide that the provisions of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 do not enable a decision on the giving of consent under the Act to be made on behalf of another person.
