On becoming an unmarried father you do not have guardianship, as a consequence you have no legal rights to your child.* It is essential for all unmarried fathers to realise this and more importantly go about getting guardianship. Guardianship means having the right and responsibility to be involved in making major decisions about the upbringing of a child, for example:
where the child lives, in Ireland or abroad
consent to medical treatment
passport applications
religion of the child
where the child goes to school
consent to adoption
Steps to obtaining Guardianship
A father who is not married to the child's mother can become a guardian by:
*It is important to note that even though a father may be on the child/rens birth certificate that this in no way grants or bestows guardianship on the father.Guardianship is a completely seperate process and must be applied for in its own right. The following link will show youhow to go about registering a birth andhow to apply for a birth certificate
It is also important to note that even though you may not be a guardian to your child you can still apply to a court for legal access so as that your child can have contact with you (see part 11(4) of link).
Download or Printout a copy of SI5 HERE! and get the declaration sworn in by yourself and your child's mother by a peace commisioner or a commisioner for Oaths.Your local Garda station should be able to give you the name and address of a Peace Commissioner in your area
On section 4, page 2 of the form make sure to strike out the word "access", otherwise you will be conceeding some legal rights!
NOTE:Make two copies of the signed Statutory Declaration, one for the mother and one for the father. Keep the document in a SAFE place as there is no register or record of this document kept by any official office. If you lose it then there will be no record of your being a Guardian.If there is more than one child a separate Statutory Declaration is needed for each.
Where a mother will not agree to you becoming a Guardian an application can be made to court to let a Judge rule on whether you should be made a Guardian. Prior to going down the court route you must ensure that there is defintely no agreement with the mother on the issue.The good news is that 93% of applications for guardianship are successful in court.
Guardianship and School Radio Interview Luke Martin and John Hayden As September begins and all the kids go back to school once again unmarried fathers who are NOT Guardians of their children have no connection or rights to the schooling and education of their children. Luke Martin and John Hayden discuss this issue and explain how to get guardianship on Dundalk FM100
