Maria Wright explores kinship care arrangements in eprivateclient
Maria’s article was published in eprivateclient, 10 May 2024, and can be seen here.
Maria Wright, Senior Associate in our Family & Relationships department, discusses the legal complexities and importance of formalising kinship care arrangements to promote children’s best interests.
Kinship care where children are raised by relatives rather than their parents is a vital but often overlooked part of the social care system. Most kinship carers are grandparents who step in during times of crisis, often without time to consider the long-term legal and emotional implications. While the government’s Championing Kinship Care strategy recognises the value of these arrangements and aims to improve support, many carers still lack formal legal status, leaving them without the authority to make key decisions for the children in their care.
Maria highlights that while formalising care through court orders such as Child Arrangements Orders or Special Guardianship Orders (SGOs) can be daunting, it is often essential. These legal tools provide kinship carers with parental responsibility, enabling them to make decisions about a child’s welfare, education, and healthcare. They also offer legal recognition and protection, particularly in cross-border situations where a lack of formal status could complicate or prevent the return of a child. SGOs, in particular, grant enhanced parental responsibility and allow carers to travel abroad with the child without needing consent from others with parental rights.
She concludes by noting that while the Kinship Care Strategy proposes working with the Law Commission to simplify legal processes, no timeline has been set, and the Commission is currently fully engaged with other projects. In the meantime, kinship carers must rely on support from charities and local authorities, where available. Maria stresses the urgent need for a properly resourced and accessible legal framework to ensure that kinship care arrangements are stable, supported, and truly in the best interests of the children involved.
Read the full article on the eprivateclient website [external link].
