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FARTS

At Crisp & Co, we are a team of dedicated family law solicitors who provide advice to individuals and families across the UK.

We understand that problems involving children are never easy. As a grandparent, you will only want what is best for your grandchildren; it can be frustrating and heart-breaking to see your child become unable to provide the care your grandchildren need. But if you are in a better position to raise the children and safeguard their welfare, taking action to adopt them or become their guardian is the right thing to do.

Our adoption solicitors can provide clear, pragmatic advice about all your options, breaking down the process into simple steps so that you can make an informed decision about the right way to move forward.

Our family law team have achieved the Law Society Family Law Advanced Accreditation for our skills in handling complex family law issues and helping our clients reach positive outcomes. We are also members of Resolution for our commitment to resolving issues with minimal conflict, saving everyone time, costs and stress – particularly the children, for whom legal proceedings can be confusing and upsetting.

Contact us today for advice from an expert member of our team. Alternatively, fill in our short online enquiry form and someone will be in touch shortly.

• • Anya Gold
  • Senior Associate Solicitor
    • 020 8003 4192
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hen you look after a child who cannot live with their birth parents. To be a foster carer, you need to be assessed and approved by your local authority. There are many different types of fostering. For example, as a foster carer, you may look after a specific child long-term, or you may provide a temporary home to many different children.

Adoption is the process of becoming a child’s legal parents (even if you are not their birth parents). There are many circumstances in which you can adopt – for example, you may adopt:

• Your stepchild
• A new born baby
• A child in care
• Your grandchild or a child you are related to
• A child from another country.

You may also adopt a child who is currently going through care proceedings, either directly out of care or by first becoming their foster carer. You must also be assessed and approved to become an adoptive parent.

The main difference between fostering and adoption is that foster parents are not the child’s legal parents and they do not have parental responsibility (this is only held by the local authority and is sometimes shared with the birth parents). This means that foster carers cannot make major or life-changing decisions about a child’s care or future.

When adoptive parents obtain an Adoption Order from court, they become the child’s legal parents. This means they get legal rights and duties, such as:

• Inheritance rights
• Next of kin rights
• The duty to financially provide for the child

They also get parental responsibility, so can make major and life-changing decisions about the child’s upbringing and future.

What is the difference between fostering for adoption and concurrent planning?

The processes are both very similar.

With fostering for adoption, the local authority will usually have already decided that it is in the baby or child’s best interests to be adopted. However, the court still needs to agree and make a Placement Order or the child’s birth parents need to consent to the adoption.

With concurrent planning, the local authority may not yet have decided whether to push forward with care proceedings.

In both types of fostering and adoption process, there is a risk that the child could be returned to their birth family. However, many prospective adopters are willing to take this risk to ensure that the child gets the best possible care.

How does the fostering to adopt process work?

Your local authority or adoption agency can provide a full explanation about how their fostering for adoption process works.

There are two main routes to becoming a fostering for adoption carer:

• Dual approval – where you are approved as a foster carer and an adoptive parent at once. You then foster a child until the local authority is able to move forward with their adoption plan. To save time, it is possible to be dual-approved by the same panel at the same time. Otherwise, you will need to be approved by a separate fostering panel and an adoption panel.
• Temporary approval – where you have been approved to adopt already and the local authority temporarily approves you as a foster carer so you can care for a child until they are able to move forward with their adoption plan.

Broken down, the basic steps required are:

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