Chapter three - form C1

Download Form C1

In this case we have provided a new set of examples. You will find out more about the family as we go through the stages of completing the forms.

For further information on having your grandchildren placed with you by a local authority see advice sheets.

Filling in Form C1

Some parts of Form C1 are almost identical to sections of C2. Where this is the case, you can look back at the examples provided in chapter two.

Page 1 of Form C1 asks you for the name of the court you are applying to, and information on the children. As with Form C2, you will need to put the name of your local County or Family Proceedings Court, or if you have received a Form C6/6A (Notice of Proceedings) the name of the court which is dealing with the earlier case involving your grandchildren. Once again, make sure that you put the full name of the child(ren) with their surname or family name in block capitals. e.g. Cynthia Melanie JONES; Zed Stefan JONES.

You do not need to put a case number on Form C1 as this is a new set of proceedings and the court will therefore issue you with a new case number for your residence order application.

Box 1: "About You" is completed in the same way as in form C2.

Box 2: "The Order you are Applying For" is also filled out in the same way as in form C2.

Under Box 3. "Other cases which concern the children" you need to provide information on proceedings which have taken place or are pending with regard to your grandchildren or their siblings.

You will also need to detail any cases which involve people who will care for, or have cared for, the children named in Box 2. For example, if the parent(s) of the child are involved in any proceedings which impact on their care of the children, or indicate that the children might be at risk with them, provide this information in this section. You will need to provide information on both criminal (where the person has been prosecuted following police action) and family cases (for example, childcare, residence, adoption cases etc.) that any of the parties have been involved in.

You may also need to provide information about other people who are involved in caring for the children (for example your partner or an adult sibling who shares your home). Some of the details asked for might seem intrusive or irrelevant (if for example your partner has an conviction for assault, perhaps taking place some years ago during an argument at a pub). However, it is important that the court is aware of any criminal convictions held by any member of your household, in order that they can satisfy themselves that the children will be well cared for if they are placed with you. It is always sensible to be open about such matters, as this will give you an opportunity to explain the situation to the court, social workers, etc.

This section of the form also asks you for the names of any Guardian (GAL), CAFCASS officer or solicitor appointed on behalf of the children during any previous proceedings.

You might not have all of the information easily available, but do put down whatever you know as this will help the court to tie the paperwork together and ensure that they are making a decision which is in the best interests of the child. If you do not know exact details of a criminal conviction, or when a trial took place, write down what information you have, as it is important for the court to have an idea of the family circumstances and major concerns which exist.

Remember that if you are caring for your grandchildren who are ‘looked after' by the local authority, your social worker will be able to provide you with most (if not all) of the information which you need to complete this section of the form.

In our example the completed Box 3 would look like this:

In Box 4 you need to list the Respondents who must be served with a copy of your application. Every individual with Parental Responsibility (PR) is a ‘Respondent' and must be served with a copy of your application. We have provided a list of people with PR elsewhere in this website. You can find out more about PR by looking at the ‘useful terms' section of the website.
Remember to put the respondents' title, name, address, age and relationship to the child(ren) in this section of the form. Box 4 will therefore look like this:

In the example above, the children's mother has automatic PR and must therefore receive a copy of the application. Zed's father received PR when he (and his mother, Zed's paternal grandmother) applied for contact orders (see under Box 5), so he must also be served with Forms C1 and C2.

You might not always know who has PR but if you talk to your son or daughter they may be able to tell you about any court cases relating to the children. In this case, as Benjy sees his son regularly, and went to court to make sure that he could have contact with Zed we know that he was granted PR. If you have quite a good relationship with a parent (even if they aren't your son or daughter) they might be able to tell you exactly what their legal situation is. Alternatively, you could ask your grandchildren's social worker (if they have one) if they have information about who has PR. Generally a good rule of thumb is to assume that if an unmarried father went to court and obtained a contact order he will have PR.

As the children are the subject of a care order the local authority social services department also has PR and they will need to be served with a copy of the application. Cynthia's father does not have PR and is therefore not included in the list of respondents.

Box 5 of Form C1 requires you to give information on ‘others to whom notice is to be given'. This category of people varies according to the situation of the child but consists of people who do NOT have PR but are in some other way involved in the care of the children. You must ensure that any relevant person from the list below is notified of the proceedings. People listed in Box 5 will be sent a Form C6 or C6A by the court which will inform them of the proceedings, case number and location of the court. This will in turn enable them to apply for an order, be joined as a party to the proceedings, etc.

When you complete Box 5 remember to provide the title, full name and address of all people who must be given notice of your application. In addition, where possible give the person's age and their relationship to the children.

A list of people who are entitled to receive notice of any application is given below. If you are unsure of whether an individual should be included in this section of the form ask your Court Helpdesk staff, CAB, Grandparents Project Worker or FRG for advice.

Categories of People to who notice is to be given:

• The Social Services Department of the Local Authority: if the child is living in local authority accommodation (i.e. is not placed under a care order).
• Everyone who is caring for the child(ren): (for example a foster carer)
• The person who provides the home where a child lives: if a child lives in a registered children's home or a refuge
• Everyone named in a court order relating to the child which is still in force and applies to your application (in our example: Zed's father (Benjy Simons) and his paternal grandmother (Lyrelle Simons) both have contact orders relating to Zed Jones. Benjy is a respondent to this case [see Box 4], but his mother will also need to be notified of the proceedings as she doesn't have PR so won't automatically receive a copy of the application). This can be a bit difficult to work out, but any contact order lasts until a child is sixteen. You can always phone FRG or speak to your social worker for more information about this.
• The parties to the case: Anyone else who has been ‘joined as a party' by the court.
• Everyone with whom the children have lived for at least 3 years during the past 5 years as long as the co-residence period did not end more than 3 months ago. (For example: if Roderick Blue (children's step-father) had been imprisoned less than three months ago, [see Box 3] you would need to notify him of the application, even though he is on remand for neglect and assault of the children. This is because he lived with them for a total of four and a half years).

In our example, the children are ‘looked after' by the local authority and have been placed with their grandmother (the applicant). All other parties to the case have PR (mother and father of Zed) and will therefore be listed in Box 4 as they a right to respond. The law says that anyone who lived with a child for at least three years must be notified of the application unless they stopped living with the children longer than three months ago. As Roderick Blue was imprisoned more than three months prior to the application being made, you do not need to notify him of your residence application. Therefore Mrs Lyrelle Simons (Zed's paternal grandmother who has a contact order) is the only other person who needs to be notified under the "other notices" section in this particular case.

Box 5 will therefore look like this:

Box 6 asks for information on the care of the children. In this section of the form you need to provide the following details: where the child is currently living, and how long they have lived at that address. In addition, you will need to refer to the carers, and the child's relationship to any other children who live at that address. In Zed & Cynthia's case box 6 would be completed in the following manner.

Box 7 - 'If you believe the children have suffered or are at risk of suffering any harm then you must tick box 7 yes.

You will then you need to fill in Supplemental Information Form C1A which you can download above. You can also download the court guidance notes on how to fill in Supplemental Information Form C1A. Please note that if you do not wish your address to be known to the respondent, leave your address blank and complete the confidential address form (form 8). The court can give you this form, which should be filed at the same time and you make the application'

Where information is request on a child's contact with a SSD (Box 8) provide the names of any social workers and SSDs involved with the family, and whether any of the children have been placed on the child protection register (CPR - see useful terms) at any time. Where a child is on the CPR you should provide the date of registration. You should be able to get this information from your son or daughter or the social services team involved with your grandchildren. . In our example Box 8 would look like this:

When asked for information on the education and health of the children (Box 9) you will need to provide details of a child's educational establishment, any special needs and whether the child has disabilities or ill-health. In the case of the Jones children, Box 9 would be completed in this way:

In Box 10, you need to provide information on the parents of the child(ren). The court needs to know about both parents, their marital status, whether they cohabit and if either parent has ever been involved in legal proceedings over their children. If so, where known, the date of the court case and name of the court must be provided. In Cynthia and Zed's case box 10 would be completed like this

In Box 11 you need to provide brief information on other children of the family. Where these children have been dealt with in earlier sections you do not need to provide full details. Where you only have limited information (as in the case of Zed and Cynthia's step-siblings) make clear to the court that you are unable to assist them further. For example:

Under Box 12 you are asked for further details of adults who live (or who will live) at the same address as the children for whom you are seeking an order. If these adults are already involved in providing care for the children you will probably have mentioned them in Box 6. It is important that the court is aware of all adult household members in order that they can make a decision which is in the best interests of the children and ensures that they are protected from further harm.

Zed and Cynthia's household will be described in the following way:

Finally under Section 13 of Form C1 you are asked to provide information on your reasons for applying for an order and your plans for the children.

Basically you need to provide a short statement similar to the one you have prepared for Form C2 (Application for Leave to Apply). Information on completing this section of the form is provided in the earlier section of this pack (Completing form C2: Box 4). You might wish to repeat the information you have provided in Form C1 although you can add additional material if you feel it is relevant.

Remember that you may be asked to provide a full statement later in the case (see below). However in the Jones' family's situation, given that they are supported in their application by the local authority who have placed the children with Mrs Jones, it is possible that their application will simply be ‘rubber stamped' by the court. If you are in a similar situation to the family in our example (i.e. the child is ‘looked after' by the local authority) it might be worth asking if they have information on the local court policy when the SSD is happy for the children to be placed with grandparents and in fact might actively be encouraging the relatives to seek a residence order.

Complete Section 14 (whether you require an interpreter and/or disabled facilities). Sign and date Form C1. It is now completed and you are ready to consider Lodging the Application at Court and Serving the Papers.

A note on making more detailed statements:
A party is not allowed to send any supporting documents or other statements to a court when they apply for a s8 Order. However at the first Directions Hearing the court may order the parties to provide full statements as well as ordering a welfare report. If the Residence Order application is disputed the Court will usually ask for advance disclosure of evidence. The evidence would be written statements detailing the information which you or your witnesses will give under oath. This is your opportunity to make a full statement about the history of the case and any other information which you wish to bring to the attention of the court. In addition, you would also need to supply copies of documents that you intend to rely on to support your case. (For example if you have a care order or reports from a health visitor, social worker etc, which you wish to bring to the attention of the court).

If you do need to make an additional statement you will need to have it sworn at true in front of a solicitor. This attracts a fee (probably around £15-20 unless you eligible for means tested help from the legal services commission when it may be lower). You may be able to get help in drafting your additional statement from a social worker, Grandparent Project worker, CAB worker or Court Helpdesk. In addition you can contact FRG for advice on preparing the statement.