Guardians/Special Guardians

• Guardians Law
• Special Guardians Law
• Template of a Guardian Deed
• Deed of Appointment preparation service

Guardians

A Guardian is a person appointed by a parent with parental respomsibility to care for their child if they are unable to do so themselves.
They can be appointed by parents either by way of a Deed of Appointment or in a Will. They may also be appointed by the Court. As an appointment by the Court may well not be in accordance with the wishes of the parent it is important that parents (especially unmarried mothers) appoint guardians during their lifetime and do not just leave to fate who should care for their children if they are not able to do so.

A parent must have parental responsibility before being able to appoint a Guardian. If a father does not have parental responsibility he will not have the right to look after his children after the mother’s death and if the mother wishes him to do so she must appoint him as a Guardian either by Deed or in her Will.
Once appointed, a Guardian will have full parental responsibility just as if he or she were the parent. The appointment of a Guardian does not take effect until the death or after the parent with care or with a residence order become incapable of caring for their children themselves.

A guardian of a child may only be appointed in accordance with the Children Act 1989 s 5 as amended by the Adoption and Children Act 2002 s 115(2), (4). A person appointed as a child's guardian has parental responsibility for the child: Children Act 1989 s 5(6). The appointment will only take effect from the death of any surviving parent with parental responsibility, unless the appointor has a residence order or he was the child's only (or last surviving) special guardian: Children Act 1989 s 5(7), (8) as amended by the Adoption and Children Act 2002 s 115(2).

The wishes of the parent are only allowed to prevail if they are not displaced by other considerations relating to the welfare of the child An appointment will not take effect unless it is made in writing, is dated and is signed by the person making the appointment; or, in the case of an appointment made by a will which is not signed by the testator, is signed at the direction of the testator in accordance with the requirements of the Wills Act 1837 s 9

The Legal-Zone Appointment of Guardian Deeds Pack contain all you need to appoint a Guardian for your child is in the approved form and costs only £14.99 with immediate download.

Deed of Appointment preparation service

Alternatively we can prepare a Deed of Appointment of a Guardian for you and then print and post it to you for signature with a full explanatory leaflet. The cost is £25

Special Guardians

Special Guardians are very different. They are appointed by the court where it is held that the best interests of the children is met by them having permanence and security but where adoption is not appropriate. A typical case where Special Guardians may be appointed would be where children are being looked after permanently by grandparents or their wider family.

The consequence of a special guardianship order is that unlike adoption, the legal relationship between a child and his or her birth parents is not severed. Parental responsibility will remain with the birth parent or parents but the Special Guardian will also be able to exercise parental responsibility. They may also remove a child from the UK for up to three months without obtaining the consent of anyone else with parental responsibility.

Unlike with adoption, with Special Guardianship the legal relationship between the child and the birth parents remains intact. A special guardian can exercise their parental responsibility to the exclusion of anyone else with parental responsibility (apart from another special guardian).

Unlike ordinary guardians, special guardians can be appointed during a natural parents lifetime. The people who can apply for special guardianship are:-

Any guardian of the child
Anyone with a residence order in relation to the child
Anyone with whom the child has lived for 3 years
Anyone who has the consent of everyone with parental responsibility

Contact/Residence | Guardians | Maintenance of children | Parental Responsibility | Prohibited Steps | Care Proceedings

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