Adoption from Care

Adoption from local authority care is a pathway to providing a permanent, loving family for children who cannot return to their birth families. The process is regulated and complex, designed to ensure the child’s welfare and legal clarity for everyone concerned.

Our experienced adoption lawyers guide and represent all parties involved in the process, including:

• Prospective adopters
• Birth parents
• Relatives wishing to contest the adoption or maintain contact with the child
• Local authorities and adoption agencies
• Children in care

We ensure that your rights are protected and that every legal step is handled with care and empathy.

What is adoption from care?

When a child is taken into care by a local authority, they may initially be placed with relatives, foster carers or in residential homes. These arrangements are usually intended to be temporary. However, in some cases, it becomes clear that the child cannot return to live with their birth parents and adoption is the best solution to give the child long-term security.

Adoption from care:

• Involves a court order transferring legal parenthood and parental responsibility from the birth parents to the adopters.
• Is a permanent arrangement and cannot usually be reversed after the adoption order is made.
• Grants the adoptive parents all the parental rights and responsibilities as if the child had been born to them.

How does the adoption from care process work?

While no two cases are the same, the journey is governed primarily by the Adoption and Children Act 2002.

Adoption assessments

If you are thinking about adopting a child from care, you will start by taking preparation courses designed to get you ready for the responsibilities of becoming an adoptive parent. You will then go through an assessment, which includes criminal record checks, a full medical examination, and a series of visits and interviews with a social worker. The social worker will prepare a detailed Prospective Adopters Report (PAR).

Once completed, the PAR is presented to the local Adoption Panel. If the panel agrees that you are eligible to adopt, the search for a child begins.

Placement order

From the child’s side, if a local authority has serious concerns about their safety or welfare, it may start care proceedings at court. A care order gives the local authority the right to make decisions about the child’s care, although the care plan itself can take many forms. If the authority believes adoption is the best long-term plan, it will ask the court to grant a placement order.

A placement order allows the local authority to place the child with approved adopters, even if the birth parents do not give their consent.

Applying for an adoption order

To make an adoption legal, the adopters will need to apply for an adoption order with help from their social worker. Most of the time, the child must live with you for at least ten weeks before you make your application, but this waiting period can be different depending on the situation.

The court will schedule a hearing to decide whether to grant the adoption order.

Can the birth parents contest an adoption?

For many families, the placement stage is the last chance for birth parents or certain relatives to object to a plan for a child to be adopted. If you do not agree with the local authority’s plan, it is vital to seek legal advice from a solicitor straight away.

Once a child is living with prospective adopters, the birth family can only challenge the adoption with the court’s permission. This is granted only if there’s been a significant change in circumstances. Because this is a high legal test, successful challenges are rare.

Our adoption lawyers give honest, straightforward guidance to birth parents and relatives about the strength of their case. Where there are genuine grounds to object to the adoption plan, we act firmly to protect their position.

Prospective adopters are usually not present during hearings where the birth parents are present, but it is still important that their interests are properly represented. If you are in this situation, getting expert legal advice is strongly recommended so your voice is heard in court.

Can the child’s family have post‑adoption contact?

An adoption order legally ends the relationship between the child and their birth parents. However, the court has the power to order post-adoption contact if it is considered to promote the child’s welfare. This can be direct, such as face-to-face meetings, or indirect, often handled via a “letterbox contact” arrangement managed by the local authority.

Such orders are only made if they are safe and beneficial for the child. Usually, the child’s adoptive parents will need to support the ongoing contact.

Our lawyers advise on applications for post-adoption contact, both for those seeking it and for adopters responding to such applications.

Related adoption services

• Step parent adoption
• Adoption by relatives
• International adoption

How Osbornes can help

Adoption from care can be a complex and emotional process, with significant legal steps along the way. Our specialist adoption solicitors are here to support you, no matter your role in the adoption. We work with birth parents, prospective adopters, children, and wider family members, always focusing on what is best for the child while protecting your legal rights.

We can help with a wide range of issues, including:

• Difficulties getting approved as an adopter.
• Disagreements with social services or adoption agencies.
• Adoption applications and assessments
• Birth parents wishing to challenge adoption or apply for contact.
• Support for adopted children at the time of adoption and as they grow up.
• Relatives seeking contact during or after the adoption process.

Our family lawyers are based in London and are members of Resolution, a national organisation of family law professionals committed to resolving matters in a non‑confrontational way. We follow the Resolution Code of Practice, which means our approach is sensitive and designed to minimise conflict. By focusing on solutions rather than disputes, we can help to reduce stress for everyone involved and, in many cases, reach a resolution more quickly.

To speak with one of our adoption lawyers, please: