According to the charity Grandparents Plus there are 200,000 grandparents and family carers in the UK looking after 300,000 grandchildren. Many of the carers have to give up work or reduce their hours in order to take on the responsibility of looking after these children, and end up being financially worse off because of it.
Whilst for the majority of grandparents contact with their grandchildren means occasional special treats and outings, for others it means taking on all the responsibilities and costs of parenting once again when they step in to help raise their grandchildren. For some they are helping because of a major family crisis; others become involved because social services have concerns about the care given by the child’s parents.
Some grandparents will already have the means to support their grandchildren, others may still be raising their own children when circumstances arise where they must also take on the next generation. Older grandparents may have retired and already be living on fixed incomes when they take on the role, leaving them with limited funds to cover the extra costs involved.
To ease the financial burden on grandparents in this situation help is available for those in need. Grandparents with grandchildren living with them may qualify for Child Benefits and Child Tax Credits, although some benefit amounts vary and can be at the discretion of the local authority.
In other situations a Child Arrangements Order may be in place, in which it is specified where a child should live if they are not at the parental home. In some cases the local authority may pay towards the cost of raising the child if there is a care order in place. Special Guardianship Order (SGO) may be granted to grandparents taking permanent care of their grandchildren due to the parents` inability or unwillingness to take on the role. Again in this case financial help may be available from the local authority, although this is decided on a case by case basis and any allowance is likely to be means tested.
Child law is complicated – for initial advice please contact Kelly Hicks on 01727 869293 or ask a question by completing the contact form below.
