Adoption
Osbornes Adoption Team is headed by Naomi Angell, working closely with Bridget Thompson in this highly complex and specialist area of law, including international, domestic and step-parent adoption cases. Naomi and Bridget offer advice and representation on every stage of the adoption process to all of those who may be involved in an adoption case - prospective adopters, children, children’s guardians, birth parents and other relatives. They offer the same specialist, experienced and sympathetic service to clients who are paying privately or who are eligible for legal aid.
Naomi Angell has many years of experience in adoption, both case work and in the major policy changes in adoption law. She is chair of a national adoption panel and lectures, writes and is regularly involved with media work concerning adoption (see website entry on Naomi’s for more detail on her experience in policy and casework and on the positions she holds in the adoption field.
Bridget Thompson is also a very experienced children’s lawyer with a broad knowledge of adoption law. She also specialises in all areas of Family Law but has a special interest in children related matters and in adoption.
She qualified originally in New Zealand and qualified as a lawyer in the UK in 1992.
She joined Osbornes Family Department in 1999 and became a Partner in 2000.
She has a particular interest in representing children or parents in all aspects of children related cases and adoption work. She is a member of the Law Society Children’s Panel and a Resolution Accredited Panel.
International Adoption
This is a complex and highly specialist area of law. The service that we offer ranges from:-
- General advice to families considering international adoption, and bringing a child back to the UK. Our clients include British families living here, ex-patriot British nationals wishing to return to the UK with their adopted child in the future, and foreign nationals (EU or non EU nationals) living in this country and wishing to adopt internationally while they are here.
- Advice on the duties and actions of local authorities or other adoption agencies in relation to international adoptions, including the assessment process. Our clients include families with concerns about the adoption assessment process either in relation to an adoption agency or the Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF), prospective adopters seeking advice on appealing against a negative adoption agency assessment to the national review body, the Independent Review Mechanism (IRM) and families needing advice on the complex procedures and regulations required for Hague Convention or other international adoptions.
- Representing adopters in adoption proceedings in the courts in this country, where the foreign adoption is not recognised by the UK and it is necessary to re-adopt here.
- Advising and representing prospective adopters wishing to take a child out of this country for adoption elsewhere, either where the child is in local authority care or as a result of a private family arrangement for adoption abroad.
- Advising relatives of a child abroad who may have been abandoned, orphaned or gifted for adoption in this country. These cases are particularly complex because of additional immigration issues.
- Advising and representing step-parents who have married a foreign national who has a child by a previous relationship where it is wished that the child should become a full member of the new family with British citizenship.
- Providing specialist legal opinions for lawyers, local authorities and adoption agencies either here or abroad on the law relating to international adoption in this country, including expert opinions for immigration lawyers for use in immigration Appeal Tribunals and otherwise in the immigration process.
Although Osbornes do not have an immigration law department, Naomi and Bridget work closely with immigration solicitors and counsel with particular skills in these children’s cases where immigration issues also need to be addressed.
Adoption from Care
Since the Adoption and Children Act 2002, the main decision about adoption is normally made either when a care order is made in respect of children or shortly afterwards, with the making of a placement order. It is at this stage that birth parents and other relatives can contest a future adoption. Their opportunities to do so once the child is placed with adopters are very limited. Normally adopters will be helped by their local authority with the adoption process. However, not all cases are straightforward and we provide advice and representation to all those involved in the adoption process, either legally aided, privately funded or funded by the local authority to:-
- Prospective adopters where there are complications in the adoption proceedings, such as a birth parent applying for leave to contest the adoption on the grounds that their circumstances have changed, or where birth parents or other relatives are applying for contact on the adoption order being made.
- Birth parents wishing to apply for leave to contest their circumstances have changed since the placement order was made or to apply for contact on adoption.
- Children where they are made parties to the adoption and when a children’s guardian is likely to have been appointed.
- Relatives including siblings of the adopted child on cases such as applying for contact on adoption, or after adoption orders have been made.
Step Parent Adoption
There are increasing number of step-families with the rise in divorce. The understandable wish to make the child properly a member of their new family means that adoption is often thought of as the solution.
Adoption may be the answer for instance where the child’s other parent has died or has had no contact with the child. However, it is now recognised as important for a child to maintain as close a relationship as possible with both of their birth parents, whether they were married or not, Step parent adoption ends the legal relationship with the absent parent so that only their custodial parent and their new partner become the child’s legal parents.
The Adoption and Children Act 2002 introduce other options for step parents which give legal status to a step parent without ending the child’s legal relationship with their other parent.
We are able to advise on the range of options, assist with drawing up step parent agreements and offer representation in whatever court process is decided to be best for the individual child.
With our expertise in international adoption, we can also provide advice and representation to a step parent who marries a foreign national abroad with a child by a previous relationship and where it is the plan for the child to become a full legal member of the new family, with British nationality.
Adoption by Relatives
Placing children permanently with relatives is generally recognised as the next best option if a child cannot be cared for by birth parents. There are a range of possible orders that can be made, including adoption and special guardianship orders.
The need to find a permanent home for a child may arise from care proceedings or as a result of family breakdown, where the local authority may not be involved. We help our clients to weigh up what will be best for the individual child, taking into account factors such as future contact that the child will have with birth parents and siblings or whether it is important for a child to retain their legal relationship with birth parents.
With our experience and expertise in international adoption, we also advise and represent relatives offering a permanent home to a child living abroad, who might have been orphaned or abandoned or who has been gifted to them by family members in other countries. In these cases we work closely with immigration lawyers in providing the full range of advice and representation that is needed what are often these most complex cases.
Children to be Adopted Abroad
This country is becoming increasingly multi-national with a significant proportion of the population having extended family abroad. When families break down and children taken in to care, a placement with relatives abroad may be the best solution for a child, enabling them to be brought up within their family.
Local authorities have duties to investigate and consider permanent placements for children with relatives, where remaining with birth parents is not an option. Inevitably, many of these family members will live abroad.
We have particular expertise in advising relatives abroad and local authorities on the range of options for a child to be placed permanently abroad, including Hague Convention adoptions, where the adoption order will be recognised by the foreign country, or by special guardianship or residence orders with mirror orders being made by the court in the country where their relatives live.
Not all such cases involve relatives, for instance where a family which has already adopted a child from care then moves abroad and subsequently a sibling to their adopted child becomes available for adoption. Also, the local authority may not be involved, for instance where a child is gifted to family members abroad who are not able to have children of their own.
We work closely on these cases with immigration and children’s lawyers in the foreign country and also with immigration lawyers in this country in working to achieve the best outcome for a child moving to a new country where it is important they have full access to immigration, health, education and welfare rights there.
Our service includes:-
- Advising and representing relatives or others abroad in care proceedings or other children’s proceedings in this country.
- Advising and providing expert opinions to local authorities in care proceedings on the legal position of placing children permanently abroad with family or otherwise.
- Providing advice and expert opinions to foreign lawyers or children’s agencies abroad on placing children from this country permanently abroad.
Post Adoption Issues
We provide advice and representation on the full range of cases that can arise after an adoption order is made wheter in a domestic or intercountry case including:-
- Advising and assisting all those involved with adoption on searching and re-establishing contact with a birth parent, birth family members or the adopted child.
- Advice and representation on post adoption contact cases.
- Problems involving post adoption support from a local authority social services department, health authority or education department.
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