SGO application submitted to court

[Crazykids17]

Good morning
Just wondering if anybody can help
Our paperwork was submitted to court with the discharge of care papers we have had an email confirming it’s all been sent and we’re just waiting on a court date

Can I ask what happens next ?

Do we just get a court date ?

Will be be given a guardian for little one ?
Sorry I’m very unsure what happens next

[Robin D]

Assuming the local authority have completed the assessment, then yes, next thing is likely to be a directions hearing where the judge will go through everything and say what else they want done before a final hearing. Assuming you are not represented, then the court date should come straight to you. If in doubt, contact the court office who are usually very helpful.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Crazykids17

Welcome back to the kinship carers’ board. Thank you for your post.

You are still caring for a child for whom the local authority has a care order. From what you say, they are asking the court to end the care order in favour of a Special Guardianship Order to you. You have had a successful assessment, but the court needs to consider the child’s situation and decide in terms of her future.

You explained in your previous post that the child’s father intended contesting the SGO application but that the Guardian also supports the making of an SGO.

Now that the paperwork has been submitted, as Robin described, the court will set the court dates to decide what is in the child’s best interests. We discussed how the court makes such decisions in the last response. The court will carefully consider the parents’ wishes and feelings and their ability to meet their child’s needs as well as your ability to do so.

Hopefully, you will be notified of the court date/s very soon and as Robin suggests there is likely to be directions and subsequently a final hearing. The court will decide about the long-term care arrangements for the child, who they should have an ongoing relationship and stay in contact with and whether to make a court order to allow these ‘contact’ arrangement to happen.

It sounds as if you have not been offered legal advice about the process. Children’s services can pay for you to access legal advice if it is considered necessary. However, in the meantime you may find it helpful to look at our advice sheets on special guardianship which explain more about what happens in court.

From what you say, it seems likely that the court will make the Special Guardianship Order but of course it is not possible to second guess the court.

However, I hope that you are notified of the court date/s soon and that the child’s future is confirmed.

As you are a kinship foster carer, I would hope that your social worker and the child’s Independent Reviewing Officer would make sure that you are properly informed of the process and what to expect.

Please post back if you have any further questions or contact the advice service via one of the other options linked to here.

I hope this helps.

Best wishes

Suzie