UK Law and Practice Contributed by: Ros Bever, Claire-Marie Cornford, Helen Clarke and Ashley Hill, Irwin Mitchell
Financial and estate planning advice should take account of possible future care needs. From a policy perspective, there is access to wel - fare benefits including carer’s allowance, attendance allowance, pension credit and the winter fuel allow - ance. 9. Planning for Non-Traditional Families 9.1 Children A child may have up to two legal parents. Succession rights and nationality flow from legal parentage. Only legal parents automatically acquire parental responsibility, to be able to make decisions about the child’s upbringing, education and medical care, for example. The birth mother is always the legal mother and is registered as such on the birth certificate. If a child is born to a couple within a marriage or civil partnership, the spouse or civil partner of the mother is usually the second legal parent. Otherwise, the bio - logical father is not automatically recognised, unless: • he is named on the child’s birth certificate (for births registered after 1 December 2003 in England and Wales); and • he obtains a court order to that effect. When a child is conceived artificially at a licensed clin - ic in the UK with donor sperm and the couple are not spouses or civil partners, the birth mother’s partner can become the child’s second legal parent, subject to certain requirements. It is possible for a deceased parent to be a child’s legal parent, but only for the purpose of being named on a birth certificate. The situation is different if a parent dies during pregnancy (post-conception). Whether the deceased parent can be named on the child’s birth certificate will depend on various factors, such as whether they gave written consent to the use of their sperm after their death. The deceased party’s parent - age does not impact succession.
“Altruistic” (non-commercial) surrogacy arrangements are permitted in England and Wales. Any agreement entered into by the parties is not legally enforceable, and legal professionals cannot be involved in prepar - ing these. The surrogate is the child’s legal mother from birth, and, if she is married or in a civil partnership, her hus - band/civil partner is the second legal parent. Legal parentage is transferred to the intended parents by way of a parental order. The inheritance rights of children – including those who are adopted, born via surrogacy or whose par - ents are not married – are governed by specific statu - tory provisions and case law: • adopted children are treated as legal children of their adoptive parents for all purposes includ - ing inheritance, but are no longer considered as children of their biological parents for inheritance purposes; • children born through surrogacy where a paren - tal order is obtained are the legal children of the commissioning parents, including for inheritance purposes; and • children born to parents who are not married or in a civil partnership generally have the same succes - sion rights as children of married parents, subject to exceptions in connection with registration on the birth certificate. 9.2 Same-Sex Marriage The UK recognises same-sex marriage and civil part - nerships. Under the Civil Partnership Act 2004, same-sex cou - ples can enter into civil partnerships, which gives them the same rights and responsibilities as married cou - ples. Civil partnerships and same-sex marriage are treated equally for taxation, inheritance and divorce. The UK also allows opposite-sex couples to enter into a civil partnership as opposed to a marriage. Provided they adhere to the Civil Partnership Act 2004, overseas same-sex marriages and civil part - nerships are recognised in the UK, but recognition of
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