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You can apply to be a child’s special guardian when they cannot live with their birth parents and adoption is not right for them.

You’ll be responsible for looking after the child until they’re 18 (unless the court takes your responsibility away earlier).

You’ll make all day to day decisions about the child, for example schooling and medical treatment. You do not have to discuss these decisions with the birth parents.

You’ll need to get the consent of everyone who has parental responsibility for the child before you make some important decisions, for example:

• changing the child’s surname
• putting the child up for adoption
• taking the child abroad for more than 3 months
• the child having surgery for reasons other than improving health, such as circumcision, sterilisation or cosmetic surgery

If you cannot get consent, you can ask the court to decide. Use the form ‘Make an application in existing court proceedings related to children’ (form C2).

You can apply to be a child’s special guardian if you’re not their parent and you’re over 18.

You can make an application with someone else. This is known as a joint claim.

You and anyone you’re applying with can apply if:

• you’re already the child’s legal guardian
• the child lives with you because of a child arrangements order
• the child has lived with you for 3 of the past 5 years
• you’re the child’s relative or a foster parent, and the child has been living with you for at least 1 year
• you have the agreement of anyone named in a child arrangements order as someone who the child will live with
• you have the agreement of all the people with parental responsibility for the child
• you have the agreement of the local council, if the child is in care

If you do not fit one of these descriptions, you’ll need to ask the court’s permission to apply. You’ll need to send the following forms to your :

• ‘Make an application in existing court proceedings relating to children’ (form C2)
• ‘Family mediation and assessment meeting’ (form FM1)

You can use a to help make arrangements with the child’s family to avoid having to apply to the court.

It costs £263 to apply to the court. You may be able to get help with court fees if you’re on benefits or a low income.

Before you apply

Three months before you apply to become a special guardian you need to tell your local council in writing that you plan to make an application.

You also need to tell anyone named in existing court proceedings or orders about the child that you plan to make an application.

Applying to the court

Fill in these forms and send them to your local family court:

• an ‘Application for an order’ (form C1)
• a supporting statement (form C13A)
• a ‘Family mediation information and assessment meeting’ form (FM1) to show you’ve been through mediation or why you could not go

Make copies of your completed forms before you send your application to the court. You’ll need to send these copies to each person affected by the application after you apply.

Find your .

If you want to keep your details private

You can apply to keep your and the child’s contact details private throughout the court proceedings.

Fill in ‘Apply to keep your contact details confidential from other parties in family proceedings’ (form C8) and send it with your application.

Within 10 days of receiving your application the court will send you a case number and a date for a meeting to set out:

• a timetable for your case
• how it will be dealt with

This meeting is called a ‘first directions hearing’.

You must go to all hearings you’re told to unless the court excuses you. If you’re not able to go, contact the court office.

Contact people in the child’s life

You must send the date and location of the hearing along with copies of your application to everyone with parental responsibility for the child.

If there is a current care order about the child, you should also send details of the hearing and copies of your application to:

• everyone you believe had parental responsibility before the current court-made care order
• the court-appointed

You must also tell the following people and organisations that you’ve applied:

• the children’s services department of your local council or the council local to where the child is staying, if that is different
• everyone who cares for the child
• the home where the child stays if it is a registered children’s home or a voluntary home and it is a refuge
• everyone the child has lived with for at least 3 years before you made the application
• anyone else named in a current court order
• anyone involved in any other ongoing proceedings that might be affected by your application

The final hearing

The court will decide if a special guardianship order is in the best interests of the child after looking at all the evidence, and in some cases, hearing from witnesses.

If the court agrees, they will send the final order to you and the other people involved in the case, including the birth parents.

Financial help for special guardians

You might be able to get a special guardian allowance from the children’s services department of your local council.