I need advice URGENT please are s/s right???

[divadi2000]

S/S have told me i dont need to give them a letter of intent for s/g/o they said we know you going for s/g/o so we dont need letter of intent so we can now start assessment report, crb checks, etc etc.. should i go along with this? OR is letter of intent crucial??also i still dont know if they are paying the legal bill as solicitor wrote to them Jan 18th about her fees and up to now they have not replied...the s/w manager said yesterday i will chase the letter up from your solictor..i dont know weather i should wait to see if they are willing to pay legal bill then if they do i can get correct guidance from solicitor OR let them start the assessments without knowing if i have legal help or not, i am worried s/s will skate past alot of maybe crucial things that is benefical for the kids..i dont know if s/s are rushing this to avoid important issues i may miss without a solicitor, and without a solicitor i will have to withdraw as i dont have finances for solicitor and not entitled to legal aid... i am very confused by s/s and dont want them to lead me up the wrong path nor rip me or the kids off! any advice please greatly appreciated as the s/w wants to start this assessment next week. x

[Robin D]

You do not need legal advice to start the assessment process. The longer you dela the start, the longer the whole process will take. In my opinion, you are unlikely to need any legal advice until just before the first hearing.

I would write a letter to the social worker who told you no letter was required along the lines of:
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Dear {Name of SW}.

I'm writing to confirm that I correctly understood our conversation of 'date' during which you stated that no letter of intention to apply for a Special Guardianship Order is required as {Name of LA} are already aware. You will appreciate that there is so much going on emotionally, its important that I double check my understanding.

You will also be aware that I have asked for my legal bills to be covered, but have yet to receive a reply from {name of manager}.

I confirm I'm happy that the assessment starts immediately, but draw your attention to that I am unable to personally fund legal costs.

I have recently been made aware of other Special Guardians who have subsequently had the order challenged or repeated court applications for contact. I seek reassurance that such assistance with legal fees will be in place until the {name of child} reaches 18.

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The final paragraph will set the expectation and also let them know you are well briefed.

If the SW is not the manager, send a copy to the manager. Make sure you keep a copy!

Good luck ...... Robin

Grandparent carer in Suffolk [:)]

[Auntie Lynsey]

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/docs ... _jan06.pdf

Page 28, section 17.3 it states that you need to give notice in writing.

Please don't take any chances on what you are being advised you should do by your SW, as part of the procedure is to state your intention in writing.

I gave you an example letter to write a couple of weeks back.

I write this from memory, so it may not be entirely correct but wWhen the 3 months are up and when you are ready to apply, one of the questions on the application form asks you to declare when your gave your notice of intention and who you gave it to.

[fatcat]

hi

as far as i know the notice in writing bit is when the ssd don't even know that you exist, and it is there to give them time to do the assessment. because you are already involved with them, you shouldn't need to give notice.

as for the legal fees, it would still be worth chasing them and getting a letter of confirmation that your legal expenses, including the fee for the application, will be covered.

[nanaJ]

Irene is right. You only need to do a short letter, you don't need a solicitor to do this for you. I think the problem is that we sometimes think social workers have the legal knoweledge of solicitors - ours didn't even fully understand what a Special Guardianship order was and had to continually refer to her legal team and was sometimes confused. If you don't it will delay matters as you will not have complied with procedure.