Exercising parental responsibility - friends and family carers
This page gives further context to local authorities and practitioners about who has parental responsibility for a child when they are cared for by a friend or a member of the family.
Those that hold parental responsibility for a child are given the right to determine key issues for the child, including where the child should live, whether the child might receive medical treatment and what school the child should attend.
When a child is cared for by a family member or a friend, the local authority or the parent may still have parental responsibility. The legal status is summarised under the headings below.
Looked after by the local authority under a care order and placed with a family member or friend approved as a foster carer
Parental responsibility is shared between the child's parents and the local authority. The foster carer will not have parental responsibility for the child. The child may only be removed from the carer by the local authority.
Looked after by the local authority under a voluntary agreement with the child's parents and placed with a family member or friend approved as a foster carer
Parental responsibility is held by the child's parents. The foster carer will not have parental responsibility for the child. The child may be removed from the carer by the child's parents or the local authority.
Cared for by a family or friend carer with a residence order
Parental responsibility is shared by the person in whose favour the residence order was made and the child's parents. The child may not be removed from the carer except by the order of a court.
Cared for by a family or friend carer with a special guardianship order
Parental responsibility is shared by the person in whose favour the order was made and the child's parents. However, while the basic legal link with the child's parents is retained, their ability to exercise their parental responsibility is limited. This means that the special guardian may exercise day-to-day parental responsibility to the exclusion of all others with parental responsibility, apart from another special guardian. The child may not be removed from the carer except by the order of a court.
Click to read the Special Guardianship Regulations (England) 2005 on the OPSI website.
Cared for by a family or friend carer appointed as the child's guardian upon the death of a parent as part of the parent's will or under a deed of appointment
An individual appointed as a guardian by a parent who has sole parental responsibility for a child will acquire parental responsibility on the death of that parent (or otherwise upon the death of everyone with parental responsibility). The child may not be removed from the carer except by the order of a court.
Cared for without a legal order, without the carer being appointed as a guardian
If the child is cared for under a private arrangement, parental responsibility is retained by the child's parents. The carer will not have parental responsibility. The child's parents may remove the child.
This page was last updated on 23 December 2005
