Rights for Fathers in the UK

• Fathers' rights in the UK begin before the child is born and continue until the child reaches the age of 18. The early entitlements focus on employment law, clarifying how long a father can take off work during and after the pregnancy. The rights then explain the term ''parental responsibility'' and define exactly the father's legal relationship with the child, with specific reference to his current relationship with the child's mother.
  
  

Before the Birth

• Fathers do not have the legal right to take time off work to attend antenatal classes or pre-birth scans. You can offer to negotiate working hours around these appointments, providing you give your employer plenty of notice on the dates.
  
  Should any emergency take place, such as a false alarm or the pregnancy itself, you are legally entitled to leave work.
  
  

Paid Paternity Leave

• Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) is a minimum payment paid by the government and your employer. SPP is a payment of 90 percent of the employee's average weekly wage or £124.88 ($188.50), depending on which is smallest, paid for one or two weeks only. The father must have been with the same employer for 26 continuous weeks prior to the birth to claim SPP, although many employers offer greater benefits and payments so don't be afraid to ask.
  
  

Parental Responsibilty

• When the parents are married and both attend and sign the birth certificate, the father has equal legal status and parental responsibility. Registration of the name of the child and the parents is required within 42 days of the birth in England and Wales.
  
  This is crucial to any father, who has separated from the mother, and wishes to seek legal, clear and continual visiting rights. If he is not registered on the birth certificate, significant legal obstacles can arise for the father.
  
  Non-married couples can live together for years, but if the mother dies, legal parental responsibility does not automatically transfer to the father if he is not registered on the birth certificate.
  
  

Financial Responsibilty

• Financial agreements can be made on a verbal basis agreement between the parents of a child, although it is advised to get legal authority and confirmation if there is any sign of tension between the separated mother and father. When tensions do exist, the Child Support Agency is a mediator, set up by the government, to assist in the administration and details of any financial payments to be made. They set out a guideline figure of 15 percent, of your net income, should be given towards your child's weekly upbringing. This is increased on a sliding scale of 5 percent (e.g., two children--20 percent, three children--25 percent and so on).