Legal Advice for Special Guardianship Order Reports and Support Plans

Further to a previous article which explained what a Special Guardianship Order (SGO) is, at Hegarty we offer one-off legal advice in respect of SGO Reports and Support Plans which are prepared as part of ongoing care proceedings. 

If you have been put forward by the parents of a child as part of these proceedings and approached by a social worker to be assessed as a potential special guardian, the Local Authority will undertake a viability assessment of you, which is the first stage of the process and where a social worker will visit you to see whether you should be assessed further as a special guardian. If the outcome of that assessment is positive, then the local authority will recommend that a full Special Guardianship Assessment Report is carried out of you. This is an in-depth assessment and should take at least 12 weeks to complete, however, this varies between Local Authority’s and the Courts. 

If the outcome of the Special Guardianship Assessment is also positive, then the Local Authority will be asking the Court to make a SGO, in your favour, to conclude the care proceedings, and which Order automatically discharges the Care Order.

As part of this process, the Local Authority will usually recommend that you obtain one-off legal advice upon the Special Guardianship Assessment Report and Support Plan to ensure that you are fully aware of what the SGO entails, as well as understanding the support packages that the Local Authority are providing to you and what is expected of you until the child reaches the age of 18 years. The Local Authority will usually fund this legal advice. 

We offer a one-hour fixed fee appointment, and we would ask that the SGO Report and Support Plan are provided to us prior to that appointment so that these can be considered. During the appointment we would advise you as to what the SGO entails and what you are entitled to, to ensure that you are happy to take on this commitment. 

For further information or support with this or any family law matter, please contact our friendly team of experts today for legal advice you can count on.