From the 18th January 2017, a non-marital father will automatically become a joint legal guardian of his child if he has cohabited with the child’s mother for a minimum of 12 consecutive months, including at least 3 months after the child’s birth. This groundbreaking provision of the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 comes into effect today, as the 12 consecutive months must occur after the date of its commencement on the 18th of January last year.

If you would like to see Treoir’s press release regarding this important provision of the 2015 Act, please follow this link.