Special Guardianship Orders

What is special guardianship?

Special guardianship means you are protecting and caring for a child who is not your own child. There are many reasons why a child may need a special guardian. For example:

• Parental bereavement
• Parental health or addiction concerns
• Parents deciding to return to live overseas
• Parents unable to cope with a child’s behaviour

Whatever the reason for making the guardianship order application, the family court will only make an order if it is satisfied that it is in the child’s best interests to do so.

Alternatives to special guardianship orders

The alternatives to special guardianship orders are child arrangement orders or adoption orders.

With a child arrangement order you share parental responsibility for the child with the child’s birth parents but the child lives with you. The child arrangement order can set out the contact arrangements (if any) between the child and their parents or other extended family, such as grandparents. As the parents share parental responsibility with you, they need to be consulted over important decisions, such as the choice of school. If you cannot reach an agreement on how parental responsibility is exercised the court can make a specific issue order. The court can vary the child arrangement order if the residence or contact arrangements need to be changed to meet the child’s needs.

With an adoption order, you are the legal parent of the child. The birth parents’ parental responsibility is extinguished by the adoption order. The court can make a contact order in favour of the birth parents at the time of making the adoption order. Contact may not be appropriate, depending on the reasons why the child was placed in your care.

Applying for a special guardianship order

You do not need to be related to a child to apply for an order. You can make the application on your own or jointly with another person. Applicants must be over 18 years of age. An applicant cannot be a parent of the child.

Applications for special guardianship orders can be made where:

• You have a child arrangements order for the child
• You are a relative of the child and the child has resided with you for at least one year immediately before the court application
• The child has lived with you for three out of the last five years and the child has not stopped living with you more than three months before the court application
• You are the child’s guardian
• The child is in the care of the Local Authority and the Local Authority agrees to you making the application
• You are a Local Authority foster carer and the child has lived with you for at least one year before the making of the application
• You have permission from the family court to make the application

If you want to apply for a guardianship order but need leave of the court to do so our specialist family law solicitors can advise on the best way to secure court permission for leave to apply for the special guardianship order.

Special guardianship order assessment

If you want to apply for an order you must inform the Local Authority in writing of your intention to apply for the special guardianship order. You must tell the Local Authority three months before applying to the court.

A social worker will investigate and provide a report for the court saying whether they think you would be a suitable special guardian for the child. The Local Authority can be asked to provide special guardianship order payments and practical support for a child who is subject to a special guardianship order.

Frequently Asked Questions on Special Guardianship

What is a special guardianship order?

A special guardianship order authorises you to parent a child. It gives you more authority than a child arrangement order as you can exercise parental responsibility and make decisions for the child without having to first consult with the child’s parents. Unlike an adoption order, it does not extinguish the birth parent’s parental responsibility for the child.

If you are planning to look after a child on behalf of a friend or relative, or are already doing so, or you are concerned there may be a breach of special guardianship order by a parent then the best option is to seek legal advice from a special guardianship solicitor.

How to apply for a special guardianship order?

If you have not been asked to make the court application by a Local Authority or invited to do so by the court you must give three months written notice to the Local Authority of your intention to apply for the special guardianship order.

When the Local Authority gets your written notice of intention to apply for the order, they will appoint a social worker to prepare a report for the court regarding your suitability to be a special guardian. The court will then hold a hearing to decide if making the order is in the child’s best interests.

How long does it take to get a special guardianship order?

As you need to give notice of your application to the Local Authority and they need to make enquiries and report it can take a while to secure the order. A solicitor for special guardianship will support and represent your interests throughout the court process.

Who can apply for a special guardianship order?

You can apply to be a special guardian if you are over 18 and you meet one of the criteria to apply for the order. For example, the court has asked you to apply for the order or you are the child’s guardian or you are a relative and the child has lived with you for a year.

If you are not sure if you can make an application our special guardianship order solicitors in London can advise you on your circumstances and the support available for special guardians.

Special guardianship order payments

The Local Authority is required to arrange support services for special guardians. Our specialist solicitors can request counselling, advice, therapy, respite care or financial support is provided by the Local Authority. Special guardianship order allowance rates are set by the Local Authority.

How to revoke a special guardianship order?

Special guardianship remains in place until the child is 18. If the child’s or your circumstances change an application can be made to the court to revoke or change the special guardianship order. The court will decide if it is in the child’s best interests to revoke the order and what alternative orders to make.

Our special guardianship order expertise

Our special guardianship order solicitors in London have the expertise and experience to help you navigate through the complicated process of working out the best type of order to apply for and guiding you through the stages of your special guardian application.

We combine expertise in special guardian law with empathy to make the legal process of securing your order as stress-free as possible.

Get in touch with our special guardianship order solicitors.

To discuss your special guardian requirements, we can talk with you at our offices, over the phone or online via Web Conferencing such as Zoom or Skype. To get the expert legal advice you need, contact our special guardianship order solicitors in London.