A person must have legal authority to act on behalf of a child in connection with Child Disability Payment.

Many parents will have legal authority to act on behalf of the child, because they have certain legal rights associated with being a parent. These are known as parental rights and responsibilities.

One element of parental rights and responsibilities is the right to act as the child's legal representative.

Parental rights and responsibilities are defined in law as:

• to safeguard and promote the child's health, development and welfare
• to provide the child with direction and guidance, in a manner appropriate to their stage of
• development
• if the child is not living with the parent, to maintain personal relations and direct contact with the child on a regular basis
• to act as the child's legal representative

For information about the right to act on behalf of a child, see ‘Legal authority to act on the child's behalf’.

A person who does not have legal authority can only act on a child's behalf in connection with Child Disability Payment if Social Security Scotland appoints them. A person can be appointed if it appears to Social Security Scotland that there is no person who meets all of the following criteria:

• has authority to act on behalf of the child
• lives with, and has care of, the child
• is willing, and practicably able to act on behalf of the child

A person who wishes to receive an award on behalf of a child must be willing and practicably able to act on the child's behalf, in addition to having legal authority to act on behalf of the child.

For guidance about situations where more than one person wishes to act on behalf of a child see ‘Resolving disputes about who should act on behalf of a child’.

If a person states that they have legal authority to act on behalf of a child

If a person states that they have legal authority to act on behalf of the child, the case manager should:

• verify that the person has legal authority to act on behalf of the child
• ensure that the person is practicably able to act on the child's behalf

If the case manager is satisfied that the person has legal authority to act on behalf of the child, and is practicably able and willing to act, the case manager may decide that person will be responsible for acting on behalf of the child.

If the child resides with a person with legal authority to act on their behalf for only part of the week, that person may still be practicably able to act on behalf of the child. There is no minimum number of days a week that a child must reside with any one person for them to be practicably able to act on their behalf.

Where it is established that the person does not have legal authority to act on behalf of the child, or it is unclear whether they have legal authority, see the section below ‘If the person states they do not have legal authority to act on behalf of a child’.

A case manager may discuss a child's award with anyone who has legal authority to act on behalf of the child. The person does not necessarily have to be receiving the award on behalf of the child to discuss the child's award.

If a person states that they do not have legal authority to act on behalf of a child

If a person states that they do not have legal authority to act on behalf of a child, the case manager should identify:

• what the person's relationship with the child is
• if there is anyone who does have legal authority to act on the child's behalf

Social Security Scotland cannot appoint a person to act on behalf of a child if there is someone else who:

• has legal authority to act on behalf of the child
• lives with and has care of the child
• is willing and practicably able to act on behalf of the child

If the case manager is satisfied that they cannot identify anyone with legal authority to act on behalf of the chid, who is capable and willing of acting on the child's behalf, they should consider appointing the person who does wish to act on behalf of the child.

If it is unclear whether the person has legal authority to act on behalf of a child

If it is unclear whether a person has legal authority to act on behalf of a child, the case manager should verify whether the person has those rights.

The case manager should then either follow the guidance under ‘If the person states they have legal authority to act on behalf of a child’ or ‘If the person states they do not have legal authority to act on behalf of a child’ as appropriate.