Parential Responsibility

[HNB7844]

So my daughters where taken from there mum and after i was confirmed as there father i got full custody and she was seeing them 6 times a year but always late
The problem ive got is ive had to stop contact because she has done a lot of naughty stuff. And has abused me and threaten me, She says i can not stop contact and she had Parential Responsibility and I can not do anything with out her permission and she can have me arrested if I do anything like move away, but I have full custody so I fort she does not have a say with anything I do
I hope all this makes sense

[Winter25]

Hi HNB7844,

You’re not alone in being confused here, a lot of parents are, because the terms “full custody” and “parental responsibility” sound like they mean the same thing, but legally they don’t.

I’ll break it down clearly in bullet points for you

Even though the children live with you and you have full care, that does not automatically remove her Parental Responsibility (PR). If she is on the birth certificates or was married to you, she will still usually have PR unless a court has specifically removed it.

What that means in practice is the following

What you can decide on your own-

Day-to-day routines
House rules
Discipline (as long as it’s lawful)
Who you spend time with
Where you live day to day

What PR gives her a say in is the following

* Changing the children’s names

* Changing schools

* Taking the children abroad

* Major medical decisions

So she does still have a legal voice on big decisions, but that does not give her control over your daily life or parenting.

On the point about arrest, this is really important to be clear about:

She CAN NOT have you arrested for stopping contact.
Contact disputes are civil matters, not criminal ones. The police do not arrest parents for contact disagreements. This is an empty threat

She cannot have you arrested for moving house.
If you were planning a significant move that would affect the children’s schooling or her ability to have contact, she would have to apply to the family court for a Prohibited Steps Order.
The court would then decide based on the children’s best interests.
This is a civil process, not a police matter

The only situation where arrest becomes relevant is if a parent takes children out of the country without the other parent’s consent or a court order. Within the UK, arrest is not an issue.

Now, about stopping contact.

This part depends on what your court order actually says.

If there is an order that says contact must happen (for example, 6 times a year), stopping it without legal backing can put you at risk of being taken back to court , not arrested, but challenged by a judge.

However, parents are allowed to pause contact if they have a reasonable safeguarding concern, such as:

threats
abuse or harassment
unsafe behaviour
substance misuse
behaviour that could harm the children emotionally or physically

What matters is being able to explain clearly what the concern is, not just that she’s been naughty.

The safest way forward if contact has broken down is: keep a written log of abusive messages or behaviour, check the wording of your current order AND consider applying to court to vary the order, so the pause in contact is legally recognised

That protects you and stops the constant threats.

To be clear again:
She does not have the power to have you arrested for:

stopping contact

disciplining the children

running your household

moving within the UK

Her remedy, if she disagrees, is family court, not the police.

You’re doing the right thing by asking questions and getting clarity rather than reacting to threats. If you want, you can post back what the order actually says about contact, and people can help you work out your next step.
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For full transparency, I am not an official adviser. I am a parent with lived experience of the family court system, offering strategic guidance. Always consult with a solicitor regarding ongoing court proceedings.