All these cases have been taken from real life scenarios. The callers have agreed to have their case facts published. All callers’ details have been withheld for confidentiality purposes.
Case 1
Facts:
A member of public contacted the Child Law Advice Line because he is concerned about his friend who is a drug abuser and no longer able to look after her 4 children due to her addiction.
The children are aged 3, 5, 9 and 13.
The father is an absent parent and does not want to have any involvement with the children.
The caller has been looking after the children at his house, with his partner, for the past 2 months. Social services are involved and advise that the children are better living with the caller and that he should seek legal advice on making this a permanent arrangement.
The caller says that the children’s mother is very volatile and he is concerned that she may try to take the children back and she becomes verbally abusive towards him when she has taken drugs.
Advice provided:
The caller was advised that he needs to decide whether he wants to make this a permanent arrangement or not. If social services are involved and they feel that the children are at risk with their mum, and if the caller does not look after them, and there is no-one else who can, then the children may be placed into local authority care.
The caller told the advisor that he wants to have the children stay with him on a permanent basis and needs advice on how to do this.
The advisor informed the caller that it would be sensible if he obtained parental responsibility for all the children. His options are to either apply for a residence order or to apply for a special guardianship order. Both orders can be obtained by making an application to court and if granted the caller will have parental responsibility for the children.
It would be sensible to obtain an interim residence order if the caller is concerned that the children’s mother will try to take them away before a residence order or a special guardianship order can be granted.
The caller must be aware that neither order will take parental responsibility away from the mother, if the caller obtains a residence order, his parental responsibility will be shared equally with the mother. This could mean that he would have to jointly consult with her on matters involving the children’s upbringing.
If the caller sees this as being a problem he should apply for a special guardianship order, as although he will not have exclusive parental responsibility, he will be able to exercise his parental responsibility to the exclusion of every other person with parental responsibility. This order however takes longer to apply for as he must give the local authority 3 months notice before he makes the application to court.
Another option for the caller is to consider private fostering or even adoption. The local authority will be able to help him with this process if this is what he decides to do.
He can make such applications himself although it would be advisable to contact a solicitor.
Case 2
Facts:
A mother contacted the Child Law Advice Line because she has 2 children and is about to enter into a civil partnership with her partner and would like her partner to share parental responsibility for the children.
Advice Provided:
When the caller and the callers partner enter into a civil partnership, they can make an application to the courts on a C(PRA2) form and share parental responsibility for the children this way.
The form involves all those with parental responsibility agreeing and signing.
The form will need to be completed and signed by both the caller and the caller’s partner, and anyone else who has parental responsibility for the children provided that they are in agreement.
The signatures must be witnessed in front of a justice of the peace, a justice’s clerk, an assistant to a justice’s clerk, or a court official who is authorised by the judge to administer oaths. He or she will also sign the form. The form must then be lodged at the Principle Registry of the Family Division. Copies of the form will be stamped and returned to all those with parental responsibility, including the caller’s partner.
