Child Care Proceedings

SA Law Chambers Solicitors have an exceptional Child Care team equipped with the knowledge and expertise to handle a breadth of public child, private child and child protection matters.

If social services have concerns about the welfare of your child, it may involve carrying out work with you and your family on many different levels. This can be a very daunting experience for you and your family. As a parent, you may or may not agree with the concerns or the way that the social services are treating you and your family. This is an extremely difficult time for you and your family, and we are here to provide you with the support and the advice that you require to keep your family together.

Our hands-on Child Care team will handle your case from start to finish and ensure that you are supported every step of the way. Our advice will always be tailored to your specific needs, and we ensure that you are able to make informed decisions about your children and how to keep your family together.

Our team advises and represents clients in the Family Court, the High Court and on appeals to the Court of Appeal. Our team represents clients nationwide and are regularly instructed by parents, grandparents and other family members in proceedings. We also specialize in challenging negative viability assessments and special guardianship assessments for family members who put themselves forward as alternative carers.

Our team deals with a vast variety of issues, including and not limited to cases where there have been allegations of non-accidental injury, sexual abuse, emotional and physical harm, neglect, mental health concerns and substance misuse. In particular, we advise and assist in the following: -

Our clients come from a range of different backgrounds and we are proud to provide a diverse and multilingual service for our clients.

Our team also represents mothers who are in prison waiting on remand or serving a prison sentence and are seeking to keep their baby in their care. Our team has successfully argued to keep mother and baby together in the mother and baby unit within the prison.

We offer free initial consultations for all our clients whether by telephone or in person.

Our team works closely with renowned experts including but not limited to psychology, psychiatry, drug and alcohol testing, radiology, pediatrics and many more.

If you require any advice and assistance, please contact our Child Care team on 02085540012 or in emergency 07985419788 who will be glad to assist you.

Contact, Residence, Prohibited Steps Order and Specific Issues Order

When parents separate or divorce, making decisions about the children can be emotionally challenging and difficult. The children often are caught up in the disputes of the parents who are separating or divorcing. It is important that children have stability and the presence of both their parents in their lives during this difficult period. Therefore, it is advisable for parents to sort out who the child should live and how contact is to be arranged with children with the non-resident parent as soon as possible. We advise and support parents on all aspects of their child’s welfare and upbringing with empathy, care and reassurance.

We would advise that you seek legal advice as soon as possible. Our specialist family law team is able to help you through the process, resolve issues and clarify arrangements as quickly and amicably as possible. Our team always try to encourage an amicable solution in resolving issues of arrangements and are mindful of child’s best interest throughout.

If our team is unable to find a resolution through direct communication, negotiation or mediation we can, as a last resort, initiate proceedings on your behalf to seek arrangements in respect of the children.

Our team are therefore able to assist you in seeking the following orders: -

Child Arrangements Order is an order that sets out who has responsibilities for the care of a child, with whom a child is to live, spend time or otherwise have contact.

Specific Issues Order is an order that gives directions for determining a specific question that has arisen, or that may arise, in connection with any aspect of parental responsibility for a child.

Prohibited Steps Order is an order which prohibits a party (usually a parent) from a certain activity relating to a child(ren), and which also prohibits a party from exercising their parental responsibility.

Parental Responsibility Order is an order which fathers can apply for when they are not married or in a civil partnership with the mother and the mother refuses to allow the father to be registered or re-registered on the birth certificate, or refuses to sign a Parental Responsibility.

Our team also specialise in helping grandparents to get in contact with their grandchildren. The courts recognise that grandparents play an important role in the children’s lives and therefore will consider applications from grandparents who wish to have access to their grandchildren.

If you require any advice and assistance, please contact our Child Care team on 02085540012 or in emergency 07985419788 who will be glad to assist you.