Special Guardianship Order UK: Who Can Apply and How It Differs From Adoption

A special guardianship order, under section 14A of the Children Act 1989, gives a chosen adult parental responsibility for a child to the exclusion of almost everyone else, without ending the birth parents' own parental responsibility the way an adoption order does, and as things stand it exists only in England and Wales.

Who can apply, and the notice you must give the council

A special guardian must be 18 or over and cannot be a parent of the child (section 14A(2)). Within that limit, section 14A(5) of the Children Act 1989 sets out who may apply for a special guardianship order: any guardian of the child; a person named in a child arrangements order as someone the child is to live with; a person falling within section 10(5)(b) or (c); a local authority foster parent with whom the child has lived for at least a year; or a relative with whom the child has lived for at least a year. Anyone else needs the court's leave to apply (legislation.gov.uk: Children Act 1989, section 14A).

Before applying, most applicants must give the local authority, either the one currently looking after the child or the one in whose area the applicant lives, three months' written notice of their intention to apply, under section 14A(7). Once notified, the local authority must investigate the matter and prepare a report to the court covering the applicant's suitability and other prescribed matters, under section 14A(8) to (9). The court cannot make a special guardianship order without that report in front of it.

What the order does, and how it differs from adoption

Once made, the special guardian has parental responsibility for the child, and section 14C lets them exercise it to the exclusion of any other person with parental responsibility, apart from another special guardian (legislation.gov.uk: Children Act 1989, section 14C). Unlike adoption, this does not end the birth parents' own parental responsibility, and their specific rights connected to the child's adoption or placement for adoption are expressly preserved. A special guardian cannot change the child's surname, or remove the child from the United Kingdom for three months or longer, without the written consent of every person who has parental responsibility for the child, or the court's permission. This makes special guardianship a middle position between an ordinary child arrangements order, which settles where a child lives without giving anyone exclusive parental responsibility, and adoption, which permanently ends the birth parents' legal relationship with the child. Local authorities must also make arrangements for special guardianship support services under section 14F, and can assess a special guardian's needs for them, although whether to provide services in a particular case is for the authority to decide (legislation.gov.uk: Children Act 1989, section 14F).

Scotland: the same outcome, a different route

Scotland has no order called a special guardianship order. The functional equivalent is reached through the general order making power in section 11 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995, the same route available to anyone seeking a residence right or guardianship over a child, used in favour of a relative or connected carer. The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 then labels certain outcomes reached this way, a residence equivalent right, an ordinary residence order, or a guardianship appointment, a "kinship care order," but only as a definition that triggers kinship care support and funding duties, not as a separate legal order a person applies for (legislation.gov.uk: Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014, section 72). A Scottish relative or kinship carer seeking parental responsibility uses the same section 11 residence or guardianship route open to anyone; it is only labelled "kinship care" afterwards.

Northern Ireland: enacted, not yet switched on

Northern Ireland has passed its own, closely mirroring scheme. Section 119 of the Adoption and Children Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 inserts new Articles 14A to 14F into the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995, covering the order itself, who can apply, its effect, and variation and discharge, following the same broad structure as England and Wales's sections 14A to 14G (legislation.gov.uk: Adoption and Children Act (Northern Ireland) 2022, section 119). As of the access date, section 119 has not been brought into force. The Act's own commencement provision leaves the timing to a future departmental order, and no such order bringing section 119 into operation has been made (legislation.gov.uk: Adoption and Children Act (Northern Ireland) 2022, section 160). Northern Ireland therefore has the law on its books, but no special guardianship order a person can currently apply for. Check legislation.gov.uk or nidirect for whether a commencement order has since been made before relying on this changing.

Related pages

Special guardianship is often confused with the more general question of who has parental responsibility, and with grandparents seeking a role in a child's life. See parental responsibility, grandparents' rights and child arrangements orders, and the UK family law hub for the full list of family law topics.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can apply for a special guardianship order?

A special guardian must be 18 or over and cannot be a parent of the child. Within that limit: any guardian of the child, anyone named in a child arrangements order as a person the child lives with, certain other listed categories, a local authority foster parent the child has lived with for at least a year, or a relative the child has lived with for at least a year. Anyone else needs the court's leave.

Do I need to notify the council before applying for special guardianship?

Yes. Most applicants must give the local authority three months' written notice of their intention to apply. The local authority must then investigate and prepare a report to the court, without which the court cannot make the order.

How is special guardianship different from adoption?

A special guardian gets parental responsibility to the exclusion of others with it, but the birth parents' own parental responsibility does not end, unlike adoption, which permanently ends the birth parents' legal relationship with the child. The birth parents' rights connected to adoption or placement for adoption are specifically preserved.

Can a special guardian change the child's surname or take them abroad?

Changing the child's surname needs the written consent of every person with parental responsibility, or the court's permission. The same applies to taking the child out of the United Kingdom for three months or longer; a special guardian can take the child abroad for less than three months without consent.

Does Scotland have special guardianship orders?

No separate order by that name. Scotland reaches the same outcome through the general section 11 order making power in the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. A resulting order can then be labelled a 'kinship care order,' which triggers support and funding duties rather than creating a distinct legal status.

Does Northern Ireland have special guardianship orders?

Northern Ireland has enacted a closely mirroring scheme, inserting new Articles 14A to 14F into its own Children Order, but as of the access date it has not been brought into force, so there is no special guardianship order a person in Northern Ireland can currently apply for.