Who Both Parents Matter supports#
Both Parents Matter has worked since 1974 for children to keep a meaningful relationship with both parents and their wider family after separation. It was known for many years as Families Need Fathers, and says it helps parents whatever their marital status or gender. Its members are mostly separated parents and grandparents dealing with contact, child arrangements, child maintenance and the family court. A sister charity covers Wales. It is peer-led, and much of its help comes from people who have been through the same thing.
The helpline and support groups#
The helpline is open from 9am to 10pm on weekdays and 10am to 3pm at weekends, with specialists on weekday evenings from 6pm to 10pm, for questions about separation, contact, child maintenance or parenting.
Its support groups are free and run by experienced volunteers. In-person groups meet in places such as Central London, Manchester, Liverpool and Wirral, Sheffield, Oxford, Plymouth and Ipswich, and online groups cover topics such as armed forces families and child abduction. You do not need to be a member for most meetings, though it asks people who find them useful to join. Because it is peer-led, it says it cannot give immediate support.
What its fact sheets say about names#
Both Parents Matter has no page on changing a child's name. Its fact sheets on law and children, mostly PDFs, cover parental responsibility, Cafcass, child arrangements, holidays and relocation, and schools. The one most relevant is Children and the Law when parents have separated, written in February 2024. It suggests a parenting plan agreed between parents first, and then explains the court orders:
- Prohibited steps orders stop a parent doing something contested without the court's consent, such as taking a child abroad or changing school.
- Specific issue orders settle a particular disagreement between people with parental responsibility, and it names the names children are known by as one of the common ones, alongside school, religion and medical treatment.
- Parental responsibility orders can be made for someone who does not have it.
If you are worried about a change to your child's name#
The law gives every parent with parental responsibility a say. GOV.UK's guidance on a child's name requires either the consent of all who hold parental responsibility or a court order, and expects parents to try to agree before applying. HM Passport Office asks for that agreement too.
- Can my ex change our child's surname? explains what happens if a change has been made, or is planned, without your consent.
- Specific issue orders covers the court route either parent can use.
- Who has parental responsibility? explains when a father has it through the birth register, and how to get it.
The same rules apply whichever parent wants the change, and a court decides by the child's welfare. How a court decides a child's name explains what judges weigh.
This page describes what Both Parents Matter publishes on its own website, read on 26 October 2026. Both Parents Matter has not reviewed it, and listing a charity here does not mean it recommends this handbook or any deed poll service.
