has / has had

[kohyoongliat]

The children's mother had been looking after them, bus since she passed away, their father has / has had to look after them.

Which verb should I use?

Thanks in advance.

[jirickova]

Hello, I am not a teacher and don´t come from English speaking country. However, my instict would say "...their father had to look after them." Marketa

[mykwyner]

There is confusion here because the word since can mean either "from the time that" or "because of."

If it means "from the time that," you can say, "...has looked after them," or "...has been looking after them,"

If it means "because of," you can say, "...has had to look after them," or or "...had to look after them."

[jirickova]

I suggest don´t think so much. I see you are confused with verb "have". In your original sentence it is used to express that the father was obliged / he must to have looked after children and it doesn´t matter whether "since" means "because of " or "from the time". The meaning of "since" you can usually understand from futher context. Your "has looked" or "has been looking" says completely nothing about the father´s obligation, it says that he just did it without any sign if he had to or not. Therefore, use your last variety "has had" or "had". However, English native speaker would give you more explaining answer.
I hope you are not even more confused now. Good luck.
Marketa.