A father has a legal right to control and direct the education and bringing up of his children until they attain the age of twenty-one years, even although they are wards of Court, and the Court will not interfere with him in the exercise of his paternal authority, except (1) where by his gross moral turpitude he forfeits his rights, or (2) where he has by his conduct abdicated his paternal authority, or (3) where he seeks to remove his children, being wards of Court, out of the jurisdiction without the consent of the Court.
A father put restrictions on the intercourse between his daughter in her seventeenth year, who was a ward of Court, and her mother, on the plea that he believed the mother would alienate the daughter’s affections from him. The Court refused to interfere.
The Master of the Rolls declared: ‘the law of England . . is, that the father has the control over the person, education and conduct of his children until they are 21 years of age. That is the law.’
Citations:
(1883) 24 ChD 317 CA, [1883] UKLawRpCh 194
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
See also – Agar-Ellis, In re ChD 1878
. .
Cited by:
Reversed – Gillick v West Norfolk and Wisbech Area Health Authority and Department of Health and Social Security HL 17-Oct-1985
Lawfulness of Contraceptive advice for Girls
The claimant had young daughters. She challenged advice given to doctors by the second respondent allowing them to give contraceptive advice to girls under 16, and the right of the first defendant to act upon that advice. She objected that the . .
Horrendous – Hewer v Bryant CA 1969
The issue was the meaning of ‘in the custody of a parent’ in the Limitation Act 1954.
Held: A 15-year-old living away from home and working as an agricultural trainee was not in the custody of a parent for this purpose. ‘Custody’ in the . .
Cited – In re D (A Child) SC 26-Sep-2019
D, a young adult had a mild learning disability and other more serious conditions. He was taken into a hospital providing mental health services. The external door was locked, and a declaration was sought to permit this deprivation of his liberty, . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Children
Updated: 18 April 2022; Ref: scu.180530