Special Guardianship Orders

A Special Guardianship Order is an order of the court under the Children Act 1989. It is best described as a ‘halfway house’ between a live with child arrangements order and adoption orders. What it does, however, is to grant the holder of the SGO parental responsibility for a child until the age of 18.

Whilst this provides the authority for carers to make important decisions regarding a child’s upbringing, it does not extinguish the responsibility of the birth parents but it does overrule it.

As you can imagine, for the court to agree to this arrangement and to award Special Guardianship Order status to a person or persons who already care or wish to care for a child or children in a long-term secure placement, the court must be fully satisfied as to the suitability of the applicant.

In order to avoid all the potential pitfalls and problems that are involved in this extremely complex process, it is vitally important that you consult a legal expert who is not only recognised as an outstanding family law specialist but who can also provide the professional experience required when applying for a Special Guardianship Order.

No one is better qualified than Higgins Miller in providing the assistance you need to satisfy the court’s most rigorous demands. You can rely on us to provide all the advice and prepare all the necessary documentation that is required, confident that it will meet the stringent criteria of the court.

If social services have carried out an assessment and told you to seek independent legal advice we can help. Sometimes social services may be prepared to pay for you to receive that advice. We can work under that arrangement but rest assured the advice that you will receive will be truly independent.

At Higgins Miller not only do we have all the specialist legal qualifications and credentials you are looking for, but we also pride ourselves on our uniquely friendly and personal approach. This means that from our very first meeting you will feel relaxed and reassured that you are obtaining the very best legal advice, together with unbeatable one-to-one assistance and service that is so important in ensuring you achieve the outcome you are looking for without any unexpected delays or problems.

If you would like to discuss applying for a Special Guardianship Order with one of our specialist solicitors then we can arrange an initial one hour meeting in our Stockport offices for just £120 + vat @ 20% and we will provide you with a written report of our discussion together with our professional advice.

To arrange this fixed fee first appointment please telephone us on 0161 429 7251 or email [email protected]