Kinship Care Rights for Grandparents in England

If you are a grandparent or other relative raising a child in England, you have more rights than most people — including many social workers — realise. The problem is that these rights are scattered across different Acts of Parliament, statutory guidance documents and local authority policies, so nobody hands you a single list when the child arrives.

The Right to an Assessment

Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 places a general duty on local authorities to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in need by providing services appropriate to their needs. A child is "in need" if, without local authority services, their health or development is likely to be significantly impaired, or if they are disabled. A parent's inability to care does not by itself establish that the child meets this definition.

If you think the child may meet this threshold, ask the local authority for an assessment in writing. Section 17 does not guarantee a particular service or mean that every relative-care arrangement automatically qualifies.

If you hold or are applying for a special guardianship order, you can request a special guardianship support assessment under Section 14F. If the child was looked after immediately before the SGO, the local authority must assess a request from the special guardian or prospective special guardian. For other requests, it may assess; if it plans to refuse, it must give reasons and allow an opportunity to make representations. The assessment can consider your needs, financial support, therapeutic services, contact arrangements and other relevant support.

The Right to Financial Support

Kinship carers in England do not have an automatic legal entitlement to an allowance in the way that foster carers do — this is one of the biggest gaps in the system. However, several routes to financial support exist:

Special guardianship allowance: If you hold an SGO, the local authority has the power (not the duty) to pay you a regular allowance. The amount is discretionary and means-tested, calculated by each council using its own formula. You should negotiate this before the SGO is finalised, because it is harder to secure afterwards.

Child Benefit: You can claim Child Benefit once a child comes to live with you, regardless of whether you have a court order. Only one person can receive Child Benefit for a child. If someone else is already claiming, contact HMRC to resolve who should claim; the claim is not transferred automatically.

Universal Credit child element: If you receive Universal Credit, you may be able to get an extra amount for a child who normally lives with you. If the child normally lives with two people who are not a couple, only the person with main responsibility can be treated as responsible for the child element. A court order is not required.

Guardian's Allowance: A tax-free weekly HMRC payment of £22.95 in 2026/27 for someone bringing up a child whose parents have died, if they qualify for Child Benefit. If one parent survives, they may still qualify if they do not know where that parent is after reasonable efforts to find them, the surviving parent will be in prison for at least two years from the date of the other parent's death, or the surviving parent is in hospital by court order.

Kinship Zones pilot: If you live in one of seven pilot areas (Bexley, Bolton, Newcastle, North East Lincolnshire, Medway, Thurrock or Wiltshire), you may be eligible for a non-means-tested weekly allowance at foster-carer rates under the Kinship Zones pilot running from April 2026 to September 2029.

The Right to Parental Responsibility

Grandparents and relatives do not automatically have parental responsibility for a child in their care. Without PR, you can do "what is reasonable" to safeguard the child's welfare under Section 3(5) of the Children Act 1989 — enough for routine school consent and GP visits — but you cannot authorise surgery, apply for a passport, or prevent a parent from taking the child back.

To gain formal PR, you need a court order. The main options are:

• Special guardianship order — gives you enhanced PR that overrides the birth parents' on day-to-day decisions. Lasts until age 18. Read more about the SGO process.
• Child arrangements order ("lives with") — gives you shared PR alongside the birth parents. Less authority than an SGO, but simpler to obtain.

Both orders require a court application. For an SGO, you must give three months' written notice to the local authority before applying.

The Right to Apply Without the Court's Permission

Whether you can apply for an SGO "as of right" or need the court's leave (permission) first depends on your circumstances:

• If the child has lived with you for at least one year immediately before the application, you can apply as of right
• If the child has lived with you for at least three years (not necessarily continuous, within the last five years), you can apply as of right
• If you are a guardian of the child, or named in an existing child arrangements order, you can apply as of right
• If you have the consent of everyone with PR, you can apply as of right

If none of these apply — for example, the child arrived recently and the birth parent objects — you need the court's leave first. More on who can apply.

The Right to Support Services

The Children Act 1989 requires local authorities to make arrangements for special guardianship support services. In practice, what is available varies between councils. Ask the local authority about:

• A support plan during the assessment. A plan is required only in prescribed circumstances when the local authority decides to provide support.
• Access to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund for therapeutic support for the child
• Support with contact, including mediation of contact disputes where appropriate
• A review of any support plan in accordance with the review arrangements that apply to your case

What You Are Not Entitled To

Honesty matters: kinship carers in England do not have parity with foster carers. You are not entitled to foster-carer-level allowances (unless you are in a Kinship Zones pilot area), mandatory training, or the level of social worker oversight that foster families receive. The Kinship charity and others have campaigned for years to close this gap, and the Kinship Zones pilot is the government's first significant step.

Getting Organised

Our Special Guardianship Orders in England guide pulls all of these rights into a single printable reference — the notice and assessment process, the court forms, the financial entitlements and the support plan — so you can advocate for yourself and the child without relying on a social worker to tell you what you are owed.

See more England guides →