Can You Get an Emergency or Interim Special Guardianship Order?

There Is No Such Thing as an Interim SGO

This catches many relatives off guard: the Children Act 1989 contains no provision for an interim special guardianship order. Unlike Interim Care Orders or Interim Child Arrangements Orders, the court cannot grant a "temporary" or "emergency" SGO while the full application is being assessed.

The court needs the local authority's Section 14A(8) report before it can make an SGO. In a private application, the local authority's report is due within 12 weeks of receiving your notice, but practice delays may extend assessment to 16–20 weeks. The report is required; the 12 weeks are not a minimum wait.

So what do you do if a child needs protection right now?

Emergency Alternatives That Do Exist

If a child is at immediate risk and you need legal authority urgently, the Family Court has other tools:

Interim Child Arrangements Order ("Lives With") — this is a common emergency route for relatives. You apply under Section 8 of the Children Act 1989 using Form C100, and the court can consider an urgent interim application. This gives you temporary parental responsibility and the legal authority to make decisions about the child's schooling, medical care and living arrangements while your full SGO application proceeds in parallel.

Emergency Protection Order (EPO) — if a child faces immediate and serious harm, the local authority (not a relative) can apply for an EPO under Section 44 of the Children Act 1989. This removes the child from a dangerous situation for up to 8 days (extendable once by 7 days). In practice, EPOs are applied for by social workers, not family members — but if you believe a child is in danger, contact the local authority's emergency duty team immediately.

Police Protection — under Section 46 of the Children Act 1989, police can take a child into protection without any court order if they have reasonable cause to believe the child would otherwise suffer significant harm. This lasts a maximum of 72 hours and is a purely emergency measure.

The Practical Strategy for Relatives

If you're a grandparent or relative who has had a child placed with you suddenly — perhaps because a parent has been arrested, hospitalised or has abandoned the child — here's what usually works:

1. If the child is safe with you right now, the immediate legal priority is establishing your authority for everyday decisions. Section 3(5) of the Children Act 1989 allows anyone who has care of a child to do what is reasonable to safeguard their welfare — this covers routine GP visits, school attendance and basic consent while you sort out formal legal arrangements.

2. Give your three-month local authority notice as soon as possible. This starts the clock on your SGO application. Send it by recorded delivery to the Director of Children's Services.

3. Apply for an Interim Child Arrangements Order if you need immediate formal legal authority — for example, if a school is refusing to enrol the child without proof of parental responsibility, or a hospital needs consent for non-emergency treatment.

4. File your SGO application once the three-month notice period has expired. If you already have an Interim CAO in place, the court can manage both the CAO and SGO proceedings together.

When the Local Authority Is Already Involved

If children's services have placed the child with you under Section 20 (voluntary accommodation), the dynamics are different. The local authority may be working toward an SGO as part of the child's care plan. In these cases, the assessment process may already be underway, and the timeline can be faster because social workers are already engaged.

If the local authority initiates care proceedings under Section 31, your SGO application may be considered within those proceedings under the 26-week statutory timetable. The court can make an SGO instead of a Care Order if the assessment supports it.

Either way, you still need the completed statutory assessment before the court can grant the SGO. There is no shortcut — but the interim measures above give you legal standing while you wait.

Our SGO Process Guide covers both the main application route and emergency protection options, with a step-by-step timeline for managing parallel proceedings.

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