The House of Lords has approved the statutory instrument extending Legal Aid provision to kinship carers applying for Special Guardianship Orders in Private Law.
What is a Special Guardianship Order?
A family member such a grandparent’s who wish to apply for their grandchildren to reside in their care normally due to the children’s parents not being in a position to care for their children themselves. Can apply to the Court for a Special Guardianship Orders.
This Order allows the children or young persons to reside with the Guardian (grandparents) and allows the Guardian to share Parental Responsibility with the parents. Enabling the Guardian to act as a parent and make decisions for the child such as medical treatment, schools etc.
What does this new change to Legal Aid mean for the Special Guardianship Order?
The New changes to legal aid will allow the Guardians to obtain Legal Aid without having to pass through the domestic abuse and child abuse gateway evidence of LASPO. For the family member applying for the Special Guardianship Order this allows them to have legal representation via Legal Aid funding. Although this will still be means tested. This is a much-welcomed change to Legal Aid which has been very strict previously with funding.
What does this mean to the parents of the children?
For the parents of the children, previously if they were taken to Court by a family member for a Special Guardianship Order it was very unlikely they could obtain legal aid which meant that the parents had no legal representation at Court. With the new changes to Legal Aid this would now allow for the parents to automatically obtain legal aid by way of a Special Children Act application. Meaning that all parties can be legally represented allowing for a fair court case.
What else does this change cover?
The extension also covers freestanding Placement and Adoption Order Applications to be brought into the Special Children Act 2002 meaning that the parties involved will obtain automatic legal aid.
When is this likely to happen?
If approved, the Order is set to come into force on the 1st May 2023
Need Legal Aid or Support?If you’re looking for more information on legal aid and how it might be able to support you, view our Legal Aid Rates and Funding Fees page. For more advice and information view our services page here.
