Special Guardianship Orders

What a Special Guardianship Order Is

A special guardianship order is an order of the family court under section 14A of the Children Act 1989 appointing one or more individuals as a child's special guardian. A special guardian must be aged 18 or over and must not be a parent of the child. While the order is in force the special guardian has parental responsibility and, subject to any other order under the Act, is entitled to exercise it to the exclusion of anyone else who holds it, apart from another special guardian.

Parents keep parental responsibility and keep their rights over the child's adoption or placement for adoption. Nobody may give the child a new surname or remove the child from the United Kingdom without the written consent of everyone with parental responsibility or the leave of the court, though a special guardian may take the child abroad for less than three months. The court can give that leave when it makes the order, so raise taking a child abroad for longer then.

The order runs until the child reaches 18 unless it is brought to an end earlier, and making one discharges any care order and any section 34 contact order in force. It sits between a child arrangements order, which leaves parental responsibility shared, and adoption, which ends the legal relationship with the birth parents.

Who Can Apply and What the Court Decides

You are entitled to apply without the court's permission if you are:

• the child's guardian, or named in a child arrangements order as a person the child lives with
• a person the child has lived with for at least three years
• a relative, or a local authority foster parent, and the child has lived with you for at least one year immediately before the application
• a person with the consent of everyone with parental responsibility, of everyone named in such an order as a person the child lives with, or of the local authority if the child is in its care

A relative here means a grandparent, brother, sister, uncle or aunt, including by marriage or civil partnership, or a step-parent. The three year period need not be continuous, but it must not have begun more than five years before the application or ended more than three months before it. Anyone else, including the child, needs the court's permission to apply.

The child's welfare is the court's paramount consideration, and the section 1 welfare checklist applies in full, including any harm the child has suffered or is at risk of suffering, how capable each parent and any other relevant person is of meeting the child's needs, and the range of powers open to the court. The order may not be made unless it would be better for the child than making no order at all.

Before making it the court must also consider whether a child arrangements order containing contact provision should be made at the same time, so contact, including contact for grandparents, is settled then.

The Notice Period and the Council's Report

No individual may apply unless they have given written notice of their intention to apply before the beginning of the three months ending with the date of the application: to the authority looking after the child, if the child is looked after, and otherwise to the authority where the applicant is ordinarily resident.

On receiving the notice the authority must investigate and prepare a report for the court on the applicant's suitability and on the matters prescribed by regulations. The court can also ask an authority to investigate and report, which it must then do, and may not make the order until it has that report.

The prescribed matters sit in the Schedule to the Special Guardianship Regulations 2005, which apply in England and were widened by amendment regulations in 2016. The report covers:

• the child, including current and likely future needs and any harm suffered
• the child's family, including any likely risk of future harm from a parent or other person
• the wishes and feelings of the child, the parents and other relatives
• the prospective special guardian, including their relationship with the child and their suitability to bring the child up to 18
• a medical summary, the merits of the orders available, and recommendations on the order and on contact

Where the child is already in care proceedings the court can ask for the report and make the order on its own initiative, so ask early to be assessed at the pre-proceedings stage.

How the Application Works Step by Step

1. Give the local authority written notice that you intend to apply, at least three months beforehand, and ask in writing for a support needs assessment.
2. Apply to your local family court on form C1 with the special guardianship supplement, form C13A. If you are not entitled to apply, ask the court's permission first on form C2 with form FM1, and apply on forms C1 and C13A if permission is given. Unless the child is in care proceedings or subject to a care or supervision order, you must also attend a mediation information and assessment meeting, or claim an exemption, on form FM1. The fee is on the GOV.UK court and tribunal fees page, and you may be able to get help paying court fees.
3. The court sends a case number and a first hearing date, and you must tell everyone with parental responsibility, children's services and anyone caring for the child.
4. The authority files its report on your suitability, which you can answer in a statement.
5. The court draws up a timetable with a view to deciding the question without delay. Where the question arises inside care proceedings, the court must timetable the care or supervision application for disposal without delay and in any event within 26 weeks of the day it was issued, and may extend that only where the extension is necessary to resolve the proceedings justly.
6. At the final hearing the court decides on all the evidence whether the order is in the child's best interests, and deals with contact at the same time.
7. If the order is refused, the court considers the other orders open to it, including in care proceedings a supervision order.

Support, Variation and Discharge

Every local authority must make arrangements for special guardianship support services: counselling, advice and information, and the services prescribed by regulations, which include financial support, help with contact, therapeutic services for the child and respite care. The regulations and statutory guidance described here apply to local authorities in England; Wales has its own special guardianship regulations. The child, a special guardian and a parent may each ask for an assessment of their needs.

Financial support is payable in the circumstances the regulations set out rather than as of right. The authority must take account of other grants, benefits and allowances available to you and will normally consider your means. It must leave means out of account when it considers financial support for legal costs, including court fees, where the order is sought for a child it is looking after and it supports the order.

Where the child was looked after immediately before the order, the authority that last looked after them stays responsible for assessment and support for three years. Since 29 June 2026 every authority must also publish a kinship local offer, covering its approach to kinship care, the financial support that may be available and local services.

Unlike adoption, a special guardianship order can be varied or discharged. The special guardian, a parent or guardian, a person named in a child arrangements order as someone the child lives with, anyone with parental responsibility or who held it before the order, the child and a local authority named in a care order may apply. The child, a parent, a guardian, a step-parent with parental responsibility and a former holder of parental responsibility need the court's permission, and permission may not be given to a parent, a guardian, a step-parent or a person who held parental responsibility before the order and no longer holds it, unless there has been a significant change in circumstances since the order was made.

When Legal Advice Is Especially Important

Advice matters most where the plan for the child is contested: where adoption is also on the table, where a placement order is in force and the order needs the court's leave, or where the authority's report does not support you. If you are a parent, the order limits how you can use your parental responsibility, so your position on contact, surname and travel belongs before the court.

In care proceedings, representation for the child, a parent or anyone else with parental responsibility is not means tested, but a legal aid provider must apply for it, and RakLAW does not hold a legal aid contract. We are privately funded, so a publicly funded firm may be the better choice for a parent. The Family Rights Group advice line for kinship carers and parents is 0808 801 0366, Monday to Friday 9.30am to 3pm. If a child is in immediate danger call 999.

How RakLAW Solicitors Can Help

We advise prospective special guardians and parents from our office at 42 Shad Thames, London SE1 2YD, a short walk from Tower Bridge in Southwark. We check your entitlement to apply, serve the notice, prepare the application and statement, and press for a support needs assessment. We also advise on social services involvement across our care proceedings and social services work.

RakLAW Solicitors was founded by solicitor Rakesh Prajapati. We offer a free 15-minute consultation, our charging basis is on our family law fees page, and you can book an appointment or call 0203 345 2000. The GOV.UK guide to becoming a special guardian is a useful plain English summary.