Child Law Solicitors
If the local authority are involved in your child’s life and you need help understanding the legal process or making sure your voice is heard, we are here to help you. Whether you are a parent or a family member we can explain the child protection process to you no matter what stage you are at: Child In Need, Child Protection Plans, Pre Proceedings or court application.
We can also help you in making sure that if your child does not live with you that the right contact plans are in place.
Our team of family law specialists can give advice based on your individual circumstances and how you can achieve the best outcome for you and your family.
Our expert team is dedicated to dealing with public law matters and will provide you with clear, sensible legal advice and will make applications to the court on your behalf should you require this.
Our expert team of family law specialists have unrivalled experience of adoption law. The family law team includes solicitors accredited by Resolution as experts in adoption law.
- If children are being adopted through the care system, a placement order will usually have been made and the subsequent adoption hearing may not be contentious. However, issues may arise, such as challenges to the placement order or contact post-adoption where we can advise and act on behalf of foster carers or prospective adopters.
- We can also advise birth parents of any application they may be able to make and how the provisions of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 affect them. We can advise potential adopters on the approval process with adoption agencies and Local Authorities and any difficulties that have arisen or potential applications through the independent review mechanism. We can issue or advise on applications in courts throughout the country depending on the initial addresses of the children or the applicants.
- Step–parent adoption can be a minefield of regulation and legal requirements, and we can help you through that maze and advise as to whether it’s the best order for your family. There are other possibilities such as joint residence orders which may be more appropriate. For grandparents, a special guardianship order may be another option.
- We have specialised knowledge of international adoptions and can advise on the procedure in this country of being approved for adoption and the subsequent possible applications in the English courts. We can advise on unusual situations where children from abroad are in this country already and questions of adoption have arisen. It is a complex area of law and deals with the illegality of bringing children from abroad into this country without prior authority and requires expert knowledge, which our team can offer.
If you have day-to-day care of a child who isn’t your biological offspring, or is a child who is looked after by the Local Authority, there are various ways in which you can formalise the day-to-day care of that child or children, You can apply for an adoption order, a residence order, be a kinship family foster carer or you could apply for a Special Guardianship Order.
A Special Guardianship Order is an order which grants you all the rights, duties and responsibilities that a parent would have for a child and whilst the natural parent would retain parental responsibility, the Special Guardian would have the final say on the child’s day-to-day care, health, education and any other major decisions in the child’s life.
When a relationship comes to an end, an unfortunate but necessary consideration must be who the children live with and spend time with. Court intervention may be needed to iron out any private agreements that are made, or to enforce agreements that have previously been established. Here at Morecrofts we have many family solicitors who can assist in private child arrangements, but there are preliminary steps that need to be taken before you can go to court.
A pre-proceedings meeting is a meeting between you and the Local Authority when they believe that they are almost at the point of having to commence formal court proceedings in respect of your child or children.
How we can help
Often with the support and advice of an experienced Child Care Lawyer, court proceedings can be avoided, and agreements can be reached as to a way forward. You will be asked in the pre-proceedings meeting to sign a written agreement which should set out clearly the steps that you need to take, which if you fail to carry out the Local Authority will commence court proceedings. You should not sign this document unless you have had legal advice as to the implications for you if you do not comply.
Morecrofts are a firm with one of the largest team of solicitors on The Law Society Children Law accreditation scheme in the Liverpool City region. This accreditation used to be referred to as being a Children panel solicitor.
Our dedicated, award-winning team have an exceptional reputation for delivering a gold-standard service.
If you are unhappy with the child’s school placement for primary or secondary school, you have the right to appeal the decision. We are able to assist you with this process. We can also assist you if you wish to appeal against an in-year school transfer decision for your child, if your request for them to be transferred to another school has been rejected.