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Child Care Solicitors in Manchester

Ravi Kaur Mahey
Legally reviewed by: Ravi Kaur Mahey
Legal Aid Child Care proceedings We provide a free legal aid assessment for child care cases, helping you find out if you’re eligible for support with your legal fees.

If you need legal advice for child care proceedings, our Manchester-based child care solicitors are here to help. Cartwright King is a Legal 500-recognised law firm representing families across Greater Manchester, including Oldham and Ashton-under-Lyne, and throughout the North West and the rest of the UK.

When social services get involved in a child’s care, the situation can be stressful and complex. Our experienced solicitors handle all aspects of care proceedings, special guardianship orders, emergency protection orders, and parental rights cases for grandparents and step-parents. We provide clear legal guidance and strong representation at every stage of your case.

All our child care solicitors are well-practised in offering legal advice remotely via telephone consultations and online video calls. No matter where you are based, our Manchester team can reach you. Of course, you are also welcome to meet with us in person at our premises.

Call our Manchester child care solicitors today on 0800 652 4283 or send us an online enquiry form to arrange your FREE, no-obligation telephone consultation.

Areas Our Manchester Child Care Team Covers

Our Manchester child care solicitors represent families across the whole of Greater Manchester, including Oldham, Ashton-under-Lyne, Salford, Stockport, Bolton, Bury, Rochdale, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan.

Oldham and the Surrounding Area

We regularly act for families in Oldham, Royton, Chadderton, Shaw and Failsworth, working with Oldham Council’s children’s services and the family courts covering the borough.

Ashton-under-Lyne and Tameside

Our team covers Ashton-under-Lyne, Stalybridge, Dukinfield, Audenshaw, Droylsden, Mossley and Hyde, and is familiar with Tameside Council’s pre-proceedings and care proceedings processes.

Beyond Greater Manchester

We also regularly support families across Lancashire, including Burnley, Preston, Lancaster and Blackpool, and throughout Merseyside and Cheshire. We also have an office in Blackburn.

Working with CAFCASS across the North West

Our North West child care team works with CAFCASS in areas A3 (Greater Manchester), A2 (Lancashire) and A9 (Merseyside and Cheshire), which means we can represent families wherever in the region their care case is being heard. View the CAFCASS operational map here.

Our Featured Manchester Child Care Services

Our Manchester-based team have a proven track record advising and resolving child care proceedings, including all of the following:

The Different Types of Care Orders

When the local authorities have concerns about a child’s care, and a pre-proceedings meeting progresses to court, they can insist on a range of child care orders to be put in place. If the local authorities get involved, our child care solicitors in Manchester can support you throughout the implementation of all orders, including:

Supervision Orders

A Supervision Order states that the local authority must remain in the picture for at least 12 months. During this time they will advise, assist and support the children and their parents, allowing the family to remain living together. If after 12 months there are still concerns, the order can be extended for an additional two years.

Special Guardianship Orders

At the end of a child care proceeding, the local authority may insist the children in question should be removed from their familial home and reside with Special Guardians. These guardians are usually known family members who are given parental responsibility and rights to make any decisions that directly relate to the children’s welfare.

Care Order

A Care Order is implemented in extreme circumstances where a child has to be removed from their home environment. It is worth noting that child care proceedings are carried out to try and resolve and improve any issues, allowing a child to remain with their family. However, in instances where a child’s parental responsibility is handed over to the local authority, a child is placed with a foster family or family member.

When a Care Order is put into practice, the local authority has the right to make decisions about the child’s health and education. The child’s parents do retain some parental responsibility; but, the authorities would have the say over daily matters.

Placement Order

A Placement Order will support a Care Order. In instances where a child is placed outside their family with a foster family, a Placement Order will accompany the decision. What this does is kickstart the process that starts looking for an appropriate adoptive family.

Interim Orders

The most common type of order to be implemented at the end of child care proceedings is Interim Orders or Interim Supervision Orders. Additionally, these orders are put into practice for a temporary amount of time. Therefore, they allow the local authorities to observe genuine improvement in the child’s care arrangements. During this period, parents will share joint responsibility with the social services for anything between 8 to 26 weeks. Subsequently, at the end of this designated time frame, all evidence will be presented to a Judge, who will make the final decision.

It’s important to note that Care Orders and Supervision Orders will only be issued if the child is deemed at risk of suffering harm or has already come into harm.

Arrange Your Free Introductory Consultation Today

We know how important trusting your child care solicitor is to your child care proceedings. Therefore, we offer all prospective clients a free, no-obligation consultation over the telephone, to allow you to get a sense of our solicitors and their working practices.

Within your introductory conversation, we will

  • Gather more information about you and your case
  • Learn more about your childcare position and arrangements
  • Discuss your legal options

All calls will be treated confidentially and are 100% complimentary. There will be absolutely no pressure to appoint our solicitor’s expertise in your child care case.

*Please note all introductory consultations are purely a “get to know you” conversation. No legal advice or strategy will be discussed.

Why Appoint Cartwright King’s Solicitors?

Child care proceedings are extremely sensitive cases with heightened emotions, and our team understands the need for full confidentiality. By putting the child’s welfare first, our solicitors will offer timely replies to all your legal needs. All correspondence will be delivered responsibly and with the utmost respect. As trust is a huge aspect of a solicitor-client relationship, honesty will be at the forefront of all communication.

The Legal 500 acknowledge Cartwright King as top firm due to the professionalism and experience of all our solicitors. Cartwright King’s prestige comes as a direct result of their knowledge and understanding of child law services, including advanced family law matters.

Our team approaches every case with the same level of respect and offers you carefully considered, non-judgemental advice on how to approach your case. We will cut through all the legal terminology ensuring you understand exactly what is happening throughout this difficult time.

The child’s welfare will be at the heart of all their advice; at no point will your solicitor rush your case. Additionally, before the solicitor will provide you with guidance they will examine it appropriately. Your child care solicitor in Manchester will be there to represent your voice, before the court and social services.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can social services take my children away?

Social services cannot remove a child on their own authority. A child can only be removed with the consent of everyone holding parental responsibility, or under a court order such as an Emergency Protection Order or Interim Care Order. Police can also remove a child to a place of safety for up to 72 hours under police protection powers, but only where there is an immediate risk of significant harm. If you’ve been told an application has been made, get legal advice straight away as you are entitled to be heard before the court decides.

What do child care solicitors do?

A child care solicitor represents you when a local authority raises concerns about your child’s care. That covers advising you at the pre-proceedings stage, attending meetings with social workers, gathering and challenging evidence, instructing independent experts, and representing you in court if the case progresses to care proceedings. Their role is to make sure your position is properly put before the court and social services, and that every deadline and procedural step in the case is met.

What happens during pre-proceedings?

Pre-proceedings begins when the local authority sends you a Letter Before Proceedings setting out its concerns. You’ll be invited to a meeting. You are entitled to bring a solicitor, and legal aid for this stage is not means-tested. A plan is agreed for a period of typically 12 to 16 weeks, during which social services look for evidence of change. The wider family and friends network is also explored at this stage. The process follows the government’s Public Law Outline, which every social services department must apply, and the aim is to resolve concerns without going to court.

What happens during care proceedings?

If concerns aren’t resolved, the local authority applies to court and the case moves through a set sequence of hearings:

  • Case Management Hearing: the court sets the timetable, identifies the key issues and decides what evidence and assessments are needed.
  • Contested Removal Hearing: held where the local authority seeks to remove a child and this is opposed; the court decides where the child lives in the interim.
  • Issues Resolution Hearing: the court narrows down what remains genuinely in dispute and tries to settle the rest.
  • Final Hearing: the court hears the outstanding evidence and decides on the child’s long-term care, which may involve a Care Order, a Supervision Order, a Special Guardianship Order or a Placement Order.

How long do child care proceedings take?

Care proceedings must be concluded within 26 weeks of the application being issued. This is a statutory limit under the Children Act 1989. Courts can extend it in eight-week increments where the case genuinely requires more time, for example if a complex expert assessment is needed, but extensions are not routine and have to be justified. Pre-proceedings work happens before this 26-week clock starts.

What is an Interim Care Order?

An Interim Care Order is a temporary order giving the local authority parental responsibility alongside the parents while the case is ongoing. It doesn’t decide the final outcome. The court sets its length to fit the case timetable, and it can run to the end of proceedings. An Interim Care Order does not automatically mean a child is removed from home. A child can remain with their parents under one, and the court decides separately where the child lives in the interim.

Can I get my child back if they’ve been placed in foster care?

Yes, in many cases. If a final Care Order has been made, you can apply to the court to discharge it, and the court will look at whether circumstances have changed and what is now in the child’s best interests. If the decision was wrong in law or procedurally unfair, you may instead be able to appeal. Appeal deadlines are short, usually 21 days, so take advice quickly. Where proceedings are still ongoing, the position can be revisited at each hearing. Contact us to discuss your options.

What powers do children’s services have?

Children’s services have a duty to safeguard children in their area. They can carry out assessments, offer support under a child in need plan, put a child protection plan in place, and apply to court where concerns are serious. What they cannot do is remove a child, change where a child lives, or make major decisions about a child’s upbringing without either parental consent or a court order such as an Emergency Protection Order. Being asked to work with social services is not the same as losing your rights as a parent.

What are a grandparent’s rights in child care proceedings?

Grandparents don’t have automatic parental responsibility or an automatic right to contact, but they do have routes into the process. You can put yourself forward as a carer, and the local authority should assess family members before considering placement outside the family. You can apply for a Special Guardianship Order or a Child Arrangements Order, though in most cases you’ll need the court’s permission to apply first. If care proceedings are already underway, ask to be assessed as early as possible. Late applications are harder to accommodate within the timetable.

Meet Manchester Child Care Team

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Recent Child Care Case Studies

Representing Vulnerable Children in FII Proceedings

We supported two children in High Court proceedings involving allegations of Fabricated or Induced Illness. A Care Order was secured for the older child and a Supervision Order for the younger, providing the protection and support they needed.

Read more

Representing a Child in Care Proceedings Involving Substance Misuse

Our team acted in care proceedings for a six-month-old child affected by parental substance misuse. With no safe family alternatives, the court granted a Care Order and Placement Order, ensuring the child’s long-term stability through adoption.

Read more

Representing a Mother in Inter-Sibling Abuse Care Proceedings

In a case involving allegations of inter-sibling abuse, we secured an independent parenting assessment that led to a balanced outcome: younger children returned to their mother, while older children remained in care with safe contact maintained.

Read more

Our Manchester Office

Opening hours

9:00am - 6.00pm
Monday to Friday

Address

Cubo Spinningfields
NO. 1 Spinningfields
Manchester
M3 3EB

Office facilities

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  • Major transport links
  • Toilets
  • City/town centre location
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Our Fees

Everyone deserves access to exceptional legal advice, regardless of their circumstances. Our experienced child care solicitors in Manchester are here to provide legal representation to all clients. When it comes to child care hearings and complex family law matters, our expertise is crucial for handling these cases fairly and impartially.

To promote transparency, we offer a straightforward pricing structure for our child care services, including fixed fees for private clients. Don’t hesitate to contact us today for more information on how our team can assist you.

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Child Care Legal Aid

Legal Aid is available free of charge to parents where the Local Authority has applied for a Care Order or a Supervision Order. It is not means-tested, so your income and savings won’t affect your eligibility. Other parties involved in care proceedings, including grandparents, other family members and anyone else with parental responsibility, can also apply for Legal Aid, subject to a means and merits test.

If the Local Authority has contacted you about your child’s care, seek advice as early as possible. Legal Aid covers the pre-proceedings stage, and getting a solicitor involved before matters reach court often makes a real difference to how a case develops. Our Manchester child care team can tell you whether you qualify.

Read More About Legal Aid

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