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Care proceedings & child protection

Adoption

If you have chosen to grow your family through adoption, we can advise you about your options and legal rights and any support you may be entitled to from the Local Authority.

When you apply to adopt a child, the court can make an adoption order which means that you take on all the legal rights that are given to a child’s parents and the legal rights of the birth parents are extinguished permanently.

Adoptions can take place within families, but the stronger the family connection between the birth parent and the potential adopter, the more likely the court will prefer an alternative placement option.

The Local Authority may offer some limited funding to adopters and we can explore this as part of the legal process.

We regularly help clients who are caring for children in many different circumstances in which they are not the biological parent.  Other options for obtaining legal responsibility for a child include Special Guardianship or a child arrangements order.

Urgent advice if legal proceedings are underway

If legal proceedings concerning a child’s future are already underway you may need to act quickly.

We offer an advice session to explore your legal options and the prospect of securing support from the Local Authority. In certain circumstances where you are not entitled to legal aid, the Local Authority may be willing to fund your legal advice.

Once we understand your circumstances, we will advise what funding might be available and discuss which payment options might work best for you.

Contact us for further advice or help with any aspect of taking legal responsibility for a child.

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