If your child has been taken into care, the new circumstances are bound to be a source of confusion and frustration. Sometimes not mapped out as clearly as they should be, your rights to access and spend time with your child will of course change in this instance. Within this blog post, let the legal experts at Richards & Lewis take you through all you need to know regarding your rights, following the introduction of a care order. Accounting for circumstances and solutions, trust us to provide an insight.
The Circumstances
Your local council will start care proceedings if they have reason to be worried about the welfare of a child in your care, and they will initially apply for a care order, which effectively means they could be passed over parental responsibility of your child. In any case, they will first see if your child can be cared for by someone in your family, though if no relative or friend can care for your child, they will stay with an approved foster carer or in a children’s home.
There are a wide number of reasons that could lead to a child being taken into care in the first place, including illness, abandonment, incarceration or neglect. Understandably, the circumstances in which you find your child being taken into care can have an influence on your rights to visit them, as well as the likelihood of you successfully contesting any decision.
Contact And Complaints
If your child has been taken into care, and the circumstances mean it is safe, local authorities must encourage contact between a child in care and their previous guardian. These arrangements for contact will normally be agreed between the local authority, you and your child collectively, with different circumstances agreed depending on their living arrangements.
If you visit your child you should usually be allowed to get involved in their daily activities in some capacity. Situations may include visits to your child at their new home, meeting up at a friend or relative’s home, having a day out together, speaking via phone or video calls, and in some cases social media messaging, texts, emails or letters. If you aren’t happy with the arrangements, they won’t always necessarily be able to be challenged legally, though a family solicitor should always be the first person you consult.
Legal Assistance
If the courts have outright denied your request to contact or visit your child, you can appeal against a decision, though an appeal has to be done very quickly after a final decision is made – and must be done on the basis that the Judge got something wrong in a legal sense. If you have the benefit of legal representation, you should consult a professional. And give their advice serious consideration.
Richards & Lewis possess a team of family law experts in this instance. And with years of contesting such decisions, we’re here to help. Accredited by the Law Society Children’s Panel, our solicitors are highly-skilled, professional and will take on social services. They have the skills, knowledge and experience needed in this sensitive area of child law.
Not sure about your rights concerning a child in care? Perhaps you’re in the dark concerning visitation? As a leading solicitors firm, we offer the very best guidance for our clients, to provide them with peace of mind and ensure their legal matters are properly resolved. We pride ourselves on the quality of our legal advice and representation, so contact us today.
