The task of upbringing a child by a single parent is not a very simple and normal job. It is as expensive as tough to take proper care of the baby.
While a child is living with its one parent, there have certain rights and obligations of a single parent to participate in their child’s life. The court can set up these rights, or the parents can mutually decide these.
Who Is A Single Parent?
When you are unmarried and have a child, you are considered a single parent. Not only that, if you and your married partner get divorced, you both are considered as single parent depending upon with whom your child is living.
But there are some differences between married and unmarried single parents, though. All have specific rights and responsibilities to their child’s life.
What Are the Rights and Obligations of A Single Parent?
There are particular rights and obligations of a single parent in case of child upbringings. No matter it is mutually decided or legally handled. The major rights and obligations of a single parent in a child life are as follows:
Financial Help
One of the major responsibilities of single parents is providing the children a good financial help. If a child lives with its mother, the father has to take equal responsibilities to bear the child’s economic expenses.
If the child lives with the father alone, the mother can also contribute economically to the child. But in the case of the mother, it totally depends upon her wish. There are no legal boundaries for the mother to bear the financial expenses of her child. Father is legally bound to do this.
Now the question comes, how much a father should spend on his child while living with its mother. Father can discuss the amount with his separated partner, which means the single mother of the child.
If they fail to reach any satisfactory solution, they can take help from the court. They can appeal and go forward with legal procedures. The child’s financial expenses involve educational expenses, medical costs, legal issues(if needed), clothing, sometimes foods, and other necessary things.
Child Custody
At the initial stage, single parents face problems with their child custody, who will get custody of the child. Both father and mother have some specific rights and obligations in this issue.
Mostly the parent who is not living with the child has the full right to apply for child custody. As the mother is the most important person for a child, the court hands over the child custody to the mother most of the time. But the father possesses equal rights to meet and visit his child any time.
In case the mother is not in a stable position to take proper care of the child, either financially or other issues, the custody goes to the father. Still, the mother has the right to visit her child.
Once the child custody has been handed over to a single parent, either father or mother, the court might notice and assess whether the parent can take proper care of the child or not.
If not, the court can take away the custody from the parent to whom it was given and hand over to the other. The child’s overall protection is the main concern of the court.
Child Care
Child care is a big challenge for a single parent. It is an expensive, tough, and very responsible job. If you are a single parent and your income is very poor, you have to face many problems in bringing up your child alone.
When you are a single parent and working all day long, a problem comes to take care of your child. In that case, you need child care assistance, and that is also very expensive.
Moreover, it is also very problematic to find out believable assistance for your child. You can better consult with the authoritative local powers who can best help out.
Again, in some countries, the government provides a handsome monthly amount for single parents to bring up their children well. If your country provides the same opportunity, consult and apply to the concerned authority for that monthly help.
Child Visit
When a child lives with a single parent, no matter the father or mother, other parents have the fullest right to visit their child at any time. There are some obligations if there is any possibility to make the child take away from its parent with whom it is living.
You can easily meet and visit your child. Besides, you can participate in every section of making any important decisions for your child, but you can not influence it to go against your partner.
If you are harmful to your child, the court might set up some limitations and obligations in your rights to visit your child. Maybe there are specific time limits and other restrictions. So, it goes under the legal protection of you do not seem safe for your child.
Conclusion
So, now you have learned what the rights and obligations of a single parent are. If you and your partner are mutually separated, you can better mutually discuss and decide your portions of rights and responsibilities for the children. Otherwise, legal issues are needed. Above all, this will be hazardous for you and your children as well.
