Special Guardianship Order Solicitors

An application for a Special Guardianship Order may be individual or joint, although joint applicants do not need to be married. Special Guardians must be 18 or over and must not be a parent of the child in question.

The following people are entitled to apply for a Special Guardianship Order without needing to first seek the leave of the court:

• Any guardian of the child;
• Any person who is named in a child arrangements order as a person with whom the child is to live;
• Any person who has the consent of each person named in a child arrangements order as a person with whom the child is to live;
• Anyone with whom the child has lived for a period of at least 3 years (which need not be continuous, but must not have begun more than 5 years before, or ended more than 3 months before, the making of the application);
• A relative with whom the child has lived for a period of at least 1 year immediately preceding the application;
• Where the child is in the care of a local authority, any person who has the consent of the local authority;
• Any person who has the consent of all those with parental responsibility for the child;
• Any other person, aged 18 or over (other than a parent) may apply for a Special Guardianship Order if they have the leave of the court to make the application.

People who are applying for a Special Guardianship Order must be over 18 years old and can be more than one person per child.  You do not necessarily need to be married to apply for Special Guardianship together. In addition to this, you may apply for a Special Guardianship Order if:

• You are a foster carer from the Local Authority who has had the child living with you for over one year directly before the application is made
• The child has lived with you for three out of the last five years – and the child has not spent more than three months living separately from you
• You are the child’s guardian
• The Local Authority has granted you the ability to make an application and the child is in the Local Authority’s care
• In respect of this particular child, you have a Residence Order or Child Arrangements Order
• The child has been living with you continuously for one year prior to the application and you are a relative of the child
• The court has granted you permission to apply to be a Special Guardian

If you are granted a Special Guardianship Order, extra support can be available to you under the Adoption and Children Act 2002. It should be noted that this support is normally only available to children who were once looked after by a Local Authority after an assessment. If they were not, an application would have to be made for an assessment to determine whether you are eligible for the support.

Some of the support services that are available include:

• Mediation to help with any contact issues
• Access to relevant support groups
• Extra training to help with the needs of the child
• Financial help – Special Guardianship Allowance
• Advice and counselling
• Therapy
• Respite care

To apply for an assessment for support for the child, the Special Guardian, the parent, a child of the Special Guardian, or any other person that the Local Authority deems to be significant may contact the Local Authority to request it. They will then look into your case and send you a response along with their reasons for it.