Overturning a SGO

[Fosterryu]

What are the main points to prove significant change to overturn an s.g.o

[Fosterryu]

Anyone gonna help me

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Fosterryu

Welcome to the parents’ discussion board and thank you for your three posts. My name is Suzie and I am Family Rights Group’s online adviser. I will respond to all of your posts here.

I am sorry to hear that your children are not in your care. They are living with a Special Guardian under a Special Guardianship Order . You are wanting to know more about how you can show that you have made sufficient significant change in order to bring the SGO to an end and have your children returned to your care.

It is not possible to say exactly what you would need to do to prove this as it would depend very much on your own situation and the reasons that prevented you from caring for the children at the time that the court made the SGO. However, an example might be where a parent, who was misusing alcohol or drugs and was unable to consistently care for their children physically and emotionally, has since engaged with alcohol or drug services, no longer drinks or misuses drugs, has been able to maintain this and has a good support network in place to prevent a relapse. And that they have done some parenting classes to enhance their parenting skills and understand their children’s needs better.

It can be helpful to look back at the court papers and compare your situation then with now in order to work out what changes the court would want to see and how you would be able to evidence this.

It is usually a good idea to try to ensure that you are having regular, unsupervised and good quality time with your children before going back to court.

Please also remember that the court must also consider if it is in the children’s best interests. This could include considering the children's ages, how long they have been living with their Special Guardian and their views.

Before you can go back to court to apply for the order to be ended you must first get the court’s permission; the court needs to be satisfied that:

• There has been a “significant change of circumstances” since the special guardianship order was made, and
• There is a chance that the application to end the order will be successful, and it is in the child’s best interests for the application to be heard.

You can find out more in our advice sheet on Special Guardianship for parents.

As this is a private law matter, which is not within our remit, you may wish to seek further advice from Child Law Advice . If you decide to go back to court and are representing yourself you may also find Support through Court helpful.

If there is a social worker currently involved with your children and you need any further advice on this please do post back or call our freephone advice line 0808 8010366, Mon to Fri, 9.30 am to 3.00 pm.

I hope that this helps.

Best wishes

Suzie

[Mummyslove18]

Hi, I was wondering if you could help me with my case.
I will be brief as possible
Background
An SGO was granted in 2016, my child is 10 in August 2023. This was granted due to no fixed abode at the time. My last contact with my boy was in 2018 at the SGOs house. This broke down and a disagreement took place on that date. So many lies have been told and i WILL disprove these in Court. For example, They mention CCTV at the property and in text messages say they have this on camera, and i also asked for it as it shows me leaving quietly NOT being the way the say to which they say. They made false claims about me never offering financial support, i have texts where i said i would send nappies and wipes to their address and they messaged back saying i was stupid, i would be placed on a harassment order and they would be returmed to sender. They also state they havent ever stopped me seeing my boy which they have... and also after the breakdown they put it down to a mere one hour contact. At the time the SGO was granted, it was recommended that Dad only have supervised due to his mental health (asperges). It is clear they have ignored these recommendations, also that due to how hostile it was between me and the family that they shouldnt try and facilitate contact, yet they did and also tried to avoid contact centres unless it was for an hour.

Current situation
I am in court and a DRA takes places soon, this is in regards for me having unsupervised contact. They dont wish for this to happen claiming i have mental health, which i dont (even if i did they allow dad to have unsupervised with his asperges and bipolar which remains uncontrolled due to his non compliance with his medication and ignoring recommendations from the LA in regards to this). I feel kind of confident i will be allowed unsupervised if this is the backbone of their argument (i have mental health). I will also disprove their allegations in regards to financial support being offered, and the fact they say they have CCTV recording the last contact, but now do not mention it, and instead give a verbal account where information can be manipulated and just their character in general how they use my son as a weapon against me and i havent seen him in years which i believe is direct emotional and psychological abuse to my son.

Future
I am undergoing court for unsupervised. Should this be granted, i am considering discharging the SGO. I have never been homeless since the SGO was granted. and i have recently attained a HGV licence Im unsure if this is considered significant changes?
a huge factor to me wanting to discharge the SGO is the way the SGO holders ignore recommendations from professional bodies, despite these were in place for the safeguarding of my child. And for no reason discriminate against me seeing my son which has resulted in me not seeing him for years, i believe these things serves as a clear demonstration they cannot act on the best interest of my son and do put him in risky situations with his Dad.

Do you think this may be enough to discharge the SGO?

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Mummyslove18

Thank you for your post and sharing your backstory, welcome to the Board.

For information here is our advice sheet called Special Guardianship: information for parents.

From what you say you have made changes since the SGO was made, I cannot say whether the changes you outlined in your post will be considered significant, it will be up to a court to advise you of that.

You will need the court’s permission to apply to discharge the order and all decisions made will be in the best interests of the child. You will (very likely) need to demonstrate that it is in your child’s interest to ‘move home’ after living with their special guardian’s for some time, with little direct contact with you – but you have said that you are in court now trying to remedy the contact situation.

Child Protection Resource has an article about discharging orders, it may be informative, here it is.

As you move forward, Child Law Advice and Support Through Court may be helpful to you too.

Best wishes

Suzie

[Mummyslove18]

Hello Suzie

First of, thank you for replying to my post, i very much appreciate your time

You said i would more then likely need to demonstrate, it is in the best interest of my child to be returned.
I have copies of the Local Authority report that states Dad should not be having unsupervised contact due to his asperges and bi polar, I do have the proof in pictures, with dates all throughout his life having unsupervised contact. &Also the SGOs shouldnt be trying to facilitate the contact and to involve a 3rd party such as a professional, i also have proof of many occasions the SGOs have said things such as"2 choices, my place or take me back to court" and "i am not willing to discuss a contact centre with you",
also at the time, i said he should live there but i didnt agree to the SGO. I'm wondering if that shows they dont act in the best interest of my boy however i did, by saying he should live there until i was sorted

what are your thought on those?

Again i very much appreciate your time and effort x

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Mummylove18

Thank you for your further post.

Regarding the points in your post, my advice that you would need to demonstrate a change in your circumstances and it being in your child’s best interests to be returned to your care, relates to you having addressed the concerns that led to your child being removed from your care. For example, if there was neglect, or drug or alcohol misuse, then you would need to provide evidence to the court that these issues have significantly changed and no longer a concern.

The issues you refer to in your post appear to be historical and may have been considered previously. If you wish to have more contact now and the special guardian is not in agreement, it is possible for you to make an application to the court for a child arrangement order for contact. The special guardian can decide how and when contact happens. The special guardian’s parental responsibility can be exercised exclusively of yours which means they can decide what is in your child’s best interests. If you believe unsupervised contact should be allowed, you must consider the reasons the special guardian does not agree to this and try to work out a solution if possible.

Please see our advice sheet advice sheet for information about what special guardianship means for birth parents.

I hope this is helpful.

Best wishes

Suzie