Family law guide
By Tom Atkinson
Part of: Grandparents Rights
Young children may often require care and love beyond their parents. In an ideal world, one or both parents share the care of a child. Parents may be unable to continue providing care and assistance to their children due to certain circumstances. Children will often need love, care and affection during such times where the parents are unable to provide care and support to their children, this is where kinship care may come into play.
We regularly advise and assist relatives and family friends who have taken in a child. The first decision is usually the route. It might be an informal arrangement, fostering for the council, a child arrangements order or a special guardianship order. The route decides whether you can make decisions about the child’s school and health care. It also decides what financial help follows, including whether you can get the new kinship allowance.
What is kinship care?
Kinship care is the term given where parents are unable to look after and care or support their children. In such a situation other family members and relatives may be required to care for the child including looking after their day to day needs and housing needs. These can be grandparents, elder siblings, uncles or aunties or other adults who are connected to the child. Kinship carers are also known as family and friends carers. Such people who raise a child either full time or most of the time when their parents are not able to are known as kinship carers. It could also cover adults such as neighbours or friends including family friends. The idea of kinship care is also supported by the government and is noted as looking after someone else’s child.
For what reasons may children be placed in kinship care?
The sole reason why children may be placed in kinship care is due to the inability of the parents to look after and care for the children. The charity, Kinship has conducted research which states that 52% of the children end up in such care due to drug or alcohol misuse by the parents. Other reasons could include the bereavement or imprisonment of a parent or parental abuse, parental neglect, or even ill health of the parent.
Is kinship care permanent or temporary?
Kinship care could be arranged on a short term or long-term basis. This arrangement can also be either a permanent or temporary arrangement. A temporary arrangement may be one which is agreed informally between the parents and the kinship carer. Alternatively, it may be a permanent arrangement which is formalised and approved through a court order from the family court. Long term kinship care can be arranged through formalising the kinship care arrangements through court orders. These can be through a Child Arrangements Order or a Special Guardianship Order.
What are the different types of kinship care?
Kinship care can take form in many ways. Most common forms of care are:
- Informal family and friends arrangements
- Private foster care arrangements
- Family and friends foster care child arrangements
- Child Arrangements orders
- Special Guardianship Orders
- Adoption orders
Informal family and Friends Kinship care
Informal family and friends kinship care arrangements can take place when a child begins living with relatives, friends or other people connected to the family. This will be due to the child’s parents inability to continue caring for the children. This arrangement can take place informally between the parent and the kinship carer. In that situation, the carer may manage day-to-day care but may not be able to make important decisions without legal authority. Alternatively social services may become involved where they consider that a child by living with their parent is at a risk of harm and may informally agree to an informal kinship care whilst their investigations continue. If children’s services become involved, or you need help understanding your position, seek legal advice.
Private Foster Care Arrangements
Private foster care arrangements arise where a child is cared for by another person who is not a parent or close relative for at least 28 days. It is important to note that private fostering does not include a close relative. Therefore, this can include, for example, a cousin or neighbour caring for the child. Care by grandparents, uncles and aunts, brothers and sisters or step-parents is not private fostering.
For private foster care arrangements to take place, the parent, private foster carers and anyone involved in arranging the placement must notify the children’s services department of the relevant local authority or local council. Although the arrangement for private foster care arrangements is private, under the Children Act 1989 the local authority must be notified. This is to ensure the children are protected given that the local authority is under a duty to ensure that the arrangements relating to a child promote the welfare and safety of a child.
Upon notification to the local authority, they may assess the arrangement to ensure the child fostered in the area is protected and safeguarded. The local authority may also provide support or information to the private foster carers where appropriate.
Family and friends foster care child arrangements
Family and friends foster care child arrangements cover situations where the family or friend kinship carer is seen as an official foster carer for the children as part of family and friends care arrangements. This is known as the kinship foster care. For this to take place, the carer, which can be a family member or, where the carer is a family friend, may be treated as a connected person and, if approved, a friends foster carer by the local authority. The child in question will be placed in a local authority placement. The child is referred to as “looked after”. Therefore, the carers under kinship foster care do not have parental responsibility over the child. This arrangement is formal arrangement.
If the council needs to place a child with you quickly, it can approve you as a foster carer for a temporary period. It checks you and your home first, then completes the full assessment (Regulation 24 placements). Where the council has not placed the child with you, the arrangement is informal kinship care and you are not a foster carer.
The child can be made subject to kinship foster care either with the parents’ agreement or where the local authority would have made an application to the family court and subsequently they would have been granted an order by the courts following the initiation of their care proceedings. This order provides the local authority responsibility over the child under a care order where applicable.
What is the assessment for kinship foster care?
When considering and with regards to kinship foster care, the local authority will carry out assessments to assess the suitability of the carer and their support needs. The assessment is based on two stages, the first stage considers the carers health, accommodation, marital status, whether there are other children in the home, criminal convictions and cautions, backgrounds check over adults in the home and will also involve obtaining character references. This helps the local authority decide what support services or respite care may be needed.
The second stage of the assessment revolves around your personality, culture, racial origin, religion, your employment and whether you have any previous experience in looking after children. Following the 2 stage assessment the local authority will provide a report and decide whether you are approved, you are approved with conditions, whether further information is required or whether you are not approved, and that report may form part of a wider support plan if approval is given.
Kinship care through a child arrangements order
A child arrangements order can be obtained from the family court to determine where the child will reside. Quite often family members can also make applications for child arrangements to either achieve the residence of the children or to establish some form of contact with the children. In terms of kinship care, carers can apply to the court to obtain a Child Arrangements order in their favour. This would also mean they have parental responsibility along with the child’s birth parents and would be able to make decisions about the child’s upbringing, including education, which can help maintain stability for the child. A carer should get legal advice before applying, especially where there is disagreement about the arrangement. When considering kinship care a child arrangement order can be made in private family law proceedings which doesn’t include any involvement from the local authority or social services.
Where kinship foster care is awarded to a relative, family member or a family friend, the carer can also obtain a Child Arrangement order in their favour. This is especially the case where the care arrangement may be beneficial for the child and could provide a permanent plan for the concerned child.
Kinship care through a special guardianship order
Kinship care could also take place through a special guardianship order. Such an order involves the court appointing a carer who is responsible for the child’s care until the child attains the age of 18 years, while sharing parental responsibility with the parents. The guardian in most cases will be a relative of the child. The special guardianship holder will share the parental responsibility for the child with the parents and be involved in making decisions for the child as part of a more secure long-term arrangement without having the need to consult the parents.
The process for obtaining a special guardianship order is like the process of kinship foster care as the local authority will need to be notified of your interest to ensure you are adequately assessed. The local authority may also consider financial support and other assistance as part of special guardianship arrangements.
Kinship Care vs Special Guardianship order?
If arrangements are to be long-term then you may want to consider securing a Special Guardianship Order to enable rights over the child. Adoption is the other long-term option. It makes you the child’s legal parent and ends the birth parents’ parental responsibility (Adoption and Children Act 2002, s.46).
Kinship Care and adoption
Quite often kinship care may lead to adoption of the child. With adoption the adoptive parent becomes the child’s legal parent. A family member such as a grandparent, aunt, uncle or adult brother or sister can apply to adopt a child in their kinship care. The child must have lived with you for at least 3 of the last 5 years, unless the court gives permission to apply sooner (Adoption and Children Act 2002, s.42). A step-parent who is the partner of the child’s parent needs the child to have lived with them for the 6 months before the application.
If you are placed as a local authority foster carer by way of the local authority becoming involved and allowing you to become a foster carer of a child, then you can apply to adopt the child providing you have been caring for the child and the child has lived with you for a period of at least 1 year.
Adoption can often be seen as the last resort if the parents are unable to care for their children for the long term. This is because adoption provides the adoptive parent the parental rights and responsibility. Adoption can make kinship care permanent as it lasts lifelong and cannot be revoked. To move from kinship care to adoption, you need an adoption order from the court. You must give the council notice of your intention to adopt at least three months, and no more than two years, before you apply. The council then investigates, including whether you are suitable, and reports to the court (Adoption and Children Act 2002, s.44).
Is help available for kinship care?
Within England and Wales help and support is available to kinship carers who raise children when their parents are not able to do so. A leading charity offering this support and assistance is Kinship. Family Rights Group also provides support and assistance to ensure children are kept safe during difficult times.
How is kinship foster care supported by this country?
If you are involved in kinship care and have someone else’s child living with you then you can get help and assistance, including benefits, financial support, and other help from the government and your local authority. If you are acting as the child’s parent, you may be able to claim Child Benefit and Universal Credit. Child Tax Credit ended in April 2025. Some payments and other help may be means tested, depending on the arrangement and your circumstances.
Kinship foster carers are also supported by their local authorities through training which is tailored to help offer the support and care children need. A social worker will often be appointed where the local authority become involved who will visit you and offer advice and support, including helping you speak to children’s services where needed, to ensure the children’s welfare is supported adequately. Local authorities may also make provision to provide support depending on the child’s needs and legal status.
What is relative foster care allowance?
All kinship foster carers are entitled to receive a relative foster care allowance. This is to ensure the costs of caring for a child are met. A relative foster care allowance is mainly used to ensure the child’s household costs including food, clothing, educational costs, and travel costs are met.
A relative foster care allowance can vary depending on which local authority the child lives in. The relative foster care allowance can also vary depending on the age of the child which is living with you and is being cared under kinship care. In England, the national minimum fostering allowance for 2026 to 2027 depends on the child’s age and where you live. The lowest rate is £176 a week, for a child aged 0 to 2 outside London and the South East. The highest is £309 a week, for a 16 or 17-year-old in London (GOV.UK). These are minimums, and your fostering service may pay more for a child with extra needs.
What is the kinship allowance, and who can get it?
The kinship allowance is a weekly payment for kinship carers, set at the national minimum fostering rate. The Department for Education is trialling it in seven council areas in England, called Kinship Zones. The pilot started on 1 April 2026. There is no means test, and the allowance is free of income tax (programme specification).
Special guardians in a Kinship Zone can qualify for each child under 18 in their care. A child arrangements order saying the child lives with you can qualify too. The test then is whether the child would otherwise be in care. It counts if, for example, the council looked after the child, or the child had a child protection plan, just before they moved in with you. Carers who apply in private law proceedings can qualify once the first court hearing has taken place. Kinship foster carers keep their fostering allowance until they get one of these orders.
Where the pilot runs, and how to claim
The seven Kinship Zones are Bexley, Bolton, Medway, Newcastle, North East Lincolnshire, Thurrock and Wiltshire (GOV.UK, February 2026). In 2026 to 2027 the allowance is £176 to £309 a week per child, depending on age and region. It does not affect Universal Credit, Child Benefit or Guardian’s Allowance. There is no national application portal, so you apply to the Kinship Zone council. It can backdate payments to the date it received your application, but not before 1 April 2026. The pilot will run for up to three and a half years, and its rules may change.
Outside the seven Kinship Zones, there is no national kinship allowance yet. Councils in England can still pay special guardianship support. They decide whether to pay, and they look at your own finances (Special Guardianship Regulations 2005). In a Kinship Zone, the order you apply for can decide whether you qualify. Take advice before choosing between special guardianship and a child arrangements order.
Common questions about kinship care
In what circumstances can a kinship foster carer be refused?
A family member, relative or family friend may be refused to be considered for foster kinship care where either the kinship foster carer or any one in their home has a conviction for child abuse, assault, violent offences against children or neglect. You may also be refused to be considered for such care if either you or a member of your household has been convicted of raping either an adult or a child.
Is tax payable on relative foster care allowance payments?
Whether or not a kinship foster carer must pay tax on a relative foster care allowance payment depends on the number of children they look after, whether it is a full tax year and whether other kinship foster care people live in the same house.
Kinship foster carers do not usually pay tax on their allowance, because of qualifying care relief. The tax-free amount is currently £20,440 a year for each household, and two carers in the same house share it (GOV.UK).
On top of that, you get relief for every week or part week a child is with you: £435 a week for a child under 11 and £515 for a child aged 11 or over. The relief applies only where a council or fostering service placed the child with you. Private arrangements with friends or relatives do not qualify (HMRC helpsheet HS236).
Contact Kabir Family Law today for a free initial consultation
If you are caring for a child who is not biologically yours or is a child of a relative or a friend, then contact our family lawyers today to receive all the support and advice you need on kinship care. Our family lawyers in Nottingham as well as across Newcastle, Northampton, Oxford and London can assist you to ensure you fully understand the principles of kinship care. Our family specialists can also advise you on the different forms of kinship care as well as assisting you in making your care arrangement permanent by way of a child arrangements order, special guardianship, or adoption.
We provide family law advice nationally as well as internationally by telephone, email and video call. The order you choose now decides who can make decisions for the child. In a Kinship Zone, it can also decide whether you get the kinship allowance, so take advice before you apply. Contact us today for a free initial consultation by calling on 029 2192 1400 to discuss your options, or let us call you back. You can otherwise book a time that suits you.
