Never Give Up!

The prospect of facing intervention by a local authority within your family can be a terrifying experience for parents but can be as equally terrifying for extended family members. An added disadvantage for extended family members is they don’t always know exactly what is going on, they are not automatically provided with all the information about the issues and are excluded from the court process unless granted party status by the Court.

Many family members report feeling isolated and unsure about what to do. This is particularly so for those family members who have been negatively assessed by the local authority and feel like they are fighting a giant with the odds unfairly stacked against them. This feeling of hopelessness can be compounded by public funding being cut back, leaving family members feeling like they are in the dark, unable to afford legal representation, trying to navigate their way through complex care proceedings before the family court.

Fear not, at Greens Solicitors we will do our best to give initial advice to all family members wishing to challenge a negative assessment, we will also discuss all funding options available and assess eligibility for public funding, which is not widely available to everyone. At Greens Solicitors we have had a number of positive outcomes for our clients, where we have successfully challenged negative assessments of family members, resulting in children being placed in their care, in situations where other family members may have given up due to the difficulties facing them. Therefore, it is vital that even in the face of a negative assessment family member should remain strong, act quickly and should at least seek initial legal advice about their assessment and the options available to them. This is why at Greens we encourage all family members who find themselves in this terrifying situation, not to give up and to seek legal advice at the first opportunity.