Residence order from birth with parental permission?

[hokeycokey]

Hi all,

A little background:
I have been asked, by my sister, to care for my sisters child from birth (4 weeks time ish). This is not because CS have become involved due to her not being able to care for this child. She has had no emotional attachment to this baby throughout the pregnancy and did not want more children but had a contraception mishap and is against abortion. The father is not present and we cannot find him, though he was notified of the pregnancy.

We have had contact with local CS, who said they have no concerns or issues with me caring for the child from birth. We know an SGO is currently the preferred way to go and I am happy with this. We know we don't need to attend mediation as we are in agreement and that we do need to notify CS at least 3 months before we apply for the SGO for assessments to be completed.

But I am concerned about not being able to authorise medical treatment without my sisters permission in the 3 months prior to the SGO hearing. Would it be possible to apply for a residence order immediately after the birth of the child with a view to applying for an SGO afterwards? Obviously I will have permission from everyone with PR.

[hokeycokey]

Thanks for your reply Irene.

Can we apply for a CAO immediately after the baby's birth?

As long as I can fill in paperwork, consent to treatment, arrange vaccinations etc then I am happy.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear helenc80,

Welcome to the friends and family forum!

As Irene has said, you can apply for an interim child arrangements order as soon as baby is born. You will need to apply for the following:
• “Leave” or permission to make an applcation (on form C2)
• and for the child arrangements order (on C100)
• And for an expedited court appointment-as normally you will need to give notice to mum of the court proceedings and this can mean there will be weeks before you get an appointment.

You are right to say that you cannot actually start court proceedings until baby is born.

To speed things up, can you get children services to confirm in a letter that they are aware of your families’ situation? In any event, the court may want either children’s services or a court CAFCASS officer to prepare a section 7 report to advise them of the best final order. This normally takes 3 to 4 months to complete.

Mum could also do a letter consenting to you having an interim order which you could attach to the application. Mum will also need to attend the court dates.

The court may also want to ensure that mum has a waiting time within which she may change her mind-(which is part of the process with adoption cases) before a final order is made.

The court will want to know what efforts have been made to locate dad so that he can be served with notice of the court application.

Here is our advice sheet about friends and family carers applying for child arrangements orders. There is a section about the court application, what forms you need and how to make the court application.

I hope this helps. Please post back if you have any questions.

Best wishes,

Suzie

[hokeycokey]

Thanks Suzie.

Is there something my sister could give me to permit me to make decisions about the child? Then we can go straight for the SGO, rather than CAO.

I don't think I need to request permission from the court to apply as I have the permission of everyone with parental consent. Please correct me if I am wrong though.

Also my sister wants me to adopt the baby at some point in the future but I have read that it is rare to be able to do so. Due to family relations being confused etc. Any idea how likely it is that I will be able to adopt the child in the future? Does it change things if I have permission from the mother?

Thanks again.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Hokeycokey

I refer to my previous advice on this matter.

Under a child arrangement order, the court requires parties to attend a MIAM (Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting) unless there are exceptional circumstances such as child protection concerns or domestic abuse, for instance.

Following the birth of the baby, mother can delegate her powers of parental responsibility (page 12 - 14) , but it is important to be mindful that it is possible she may develop an emotional attachment following the birth of the baby. For this reason, it could be advisable to obtain a child arrangement or special guardianship order through the court, in the first instance.

Just so I can be clear I have understood you correctly, I am uncertain what attempts have been made to find father, if he has already been notified of the pregnancy? What steps were made to do this, and does this mean his contact details are known. As a result, he would be party to the proceedings if an application is made to the court.

Should you wish to seek more detailed advice, and speak to one of our advisers on this matter, please free to contact the Family Rights Group advice line on 0808 801 0366 or contact the Children's Legal Centre on 0808 802 0008.

I hope this helps.

Best Wishes

Suzie

[hokeycokey]

Hi Suzie,

Thanks again for the advice. The father was notified of the pregnancy by phone which was my sisters only way of contacting him. Shortly after this his phone number was no longer in service and I believe my sister deleted it. She has since changed her phone. They have no mutual friends and we only have a first name and vague (drunken) description of him. We do not even know if he lives in the same town.
I am unclear if the linked parental responsibility document would be relevant to me as it says I would still need to go to court to obtain PR. I was more thinking of a letter stating I can access medical treatment, authorise vaccinations etc, in the interim.
I have also discussed with my sister about her changing her mind, which she is adamant she won't, but which I understand may happen.

Thanks again, if I have further questions I will call the advice line.