Pictured above: Katherine Marshall

New Labour leader and father-of-one Ed Miliband, admitted he was "really embarrassed" by the fact he was not named on his son's birth certificate. But red-faced unease at parental status can easily be sidestepped, says specialist family lawyer Katherine Marshall.

Married parents automatically get parental responsibility (PR) for their children - a legal concept allowing them to make important decisions about their child's life on everything from medical treatment to the school they should go to. Mothers - married or not - also automatically get parental responsibility for their children. But unmarried fathers must be named on their child's birth certificate to have parental responsibility.

This is a step forward following a change in the law in December 2003, as up until then, a child's mother had to "allow" parental responsibility by entering into a PR agreement, otherwise an unmarried father was obliged to make a court application to get PR. Now, an unmarried father simply has to be present at the registration of their child's birth to ensure they are named on the certificate. Unmarried dads in Mr Miliband's position who are not on their child's birth certificate must decide whether to enter into an agreement to get PR.

Family lawyer Katherine Marshall, an associate at Midlands' law firm Harvey Ingram, has advised numerous unmarried fathers on everything from parental responsibility and rights, to pre-nups and cohabitation agreements. 

She says: "There's a certain irony here as the previous Labour government was looking at bringing unmarried couples who had separated in line with married couples. But the new Coalition now seems to have shelved it, so Mr Miliband might have a vested interest in resurrecting this issue!"

For more information about Harvey Ingram, please visit their website here: www.harveyingram.com