Care proceedings & social services

We do not offer legal aid. All of the advice we offer is on a private paying basis. However, you may be entitled to legal aid. You can check online here. We can help you obtain this financial assistance however you would be responsible for our costs until funding was in place.

Have you or a family member been contacted by social services regarding the care of your child/children? If yes, it is important that you seek legal advice straight away, even if you are working with social services amicably.

The local authority has a duty to intervene and start child Care Proceedings if there are concerns that a child is at risk. In a lot of these cases, social services are involved for just a short period of time, however, for some, they may call for a Child Protection Case Conference.  This allows social services to assess whether a Care Order needs to be made or not.

If social services decide to start child Care Proceedings the Court will try to make a decision within 26 weeks of the application being made (about six months).

At the first stage, the court will review the interim care plan in place and if agreed, whether there should be a temporary legal order for your child.  They can make an Interim Care Order, Interim Residence Order or Interim Supervision Order.

Following this, there will be a number of hearings: Case Management and Issues Resolution to see if an agreement can be reached by everyone about where your child should live and how much contact they should have.

If a plan cannot be agreed there will usually be a final hearing where long-term decisions are made about your child’s future, who they will live and what court order is best.

Our experienced family lawyers can advise you on the complex law surrounding any final orders. We also assist people to obtain a Special Guardianship assessment by drafting the application to Court and attending the Court hearings that follow.

It is extremely important you do not ignore social services as they will not go away.  Even if you do not attend scheduled meetings or court hearings, they can make important decisions about the future of your family.

Dealing with child Care Proceedings is an extremely emotional and stressful time. With clear legal advice, we will support and guide you through the process to get the best result possible for you and your family.