You need to be clear about your rights, responsibilities, and the support you are entitled to as a special guardian.
Every child gets a personal support plan when the special guardianship order is made. This is usually done by the social worker.
The support plan is a legal requirement and has information about the support that the carer and child can access.
"We felt supported by her throughout and it was helpful to be reassured that we could contact her in the future if necessary"
Two special guardians in Bristol
It's your legal right to have the support plan reviewed once a year. If we do not contact you to have a review, you can contact us and we'll do a review with you.
To find out more about support plans, read our pdf welcome pack(470 KB) .
A special guardianship order is a legally binding order. Changes can only be made when they're granted by the court.
There would need to be a significant change in circumstances for a special guardianship order to be legally ended.
It can be ended by:
- an application being made to court by the special guardian to end the order
- anyone who has a child arrangement order in place since the special guardianship order was granted
- the local authority where a care order has been applied for since the special guardianship order was granted
A parent can also make an application to court to end the special guardianship order.
An application does not automatically mean the order ends as it needs to be assessed through the court process.
A special guardianship order ends on the death of a special guardian unless the order was made jointly with another special guardian and one survives.
Testamentary guardians
Special guardians can appoint a testamentary guardian in their will. This is a person who is named by the special guardian as being willing to care for the child in the event of the death of the special guardian.
We recommend that all special guardians appoint a testamentary guardian as soon as possible, and to get legal advice about the process and your rights.
You can use a solicitor or a will service to appoint a testamentary guardian.
Testamentary guardians have equal parental responsibility as birth parents but do not have the same rights and cannot access the same support services as special guardians.
They also do not automatically gain the right for a child to live in their care after the death of the special guardian. There would need to be an agreement between the testamentary guardians and birth parents about where the child lives. Disagreements need to be resolved in court.
Testamentary guardians can apply for a special guardianship order through private law proceedings.
This process can sometimes feel daunting. Contact us for advice or you can find out more from:
When a child under a special guardianship order dies, the special guardian's parental responsibility ends and next of kin laws come into effect. You can contact us to find out more about what this means.
The special guardianship order ends when a child turns 18.
Before the child turns 18, contact our team to get a better understanding of what their rights are and how you can support them into adulthood.
Find out more about the services to support the transition of young people to independence on the Kinship website.
You can contact us to find out more and get help and guidance.
You can also download a leaflet about special guardian rights and responsibilities.