A grandmother in Tunstall has looked after her two grandchildren since their mother's problems became too much, and now social services want to know whether the arrangement is permanent. Kinship care of this kind is a larger part of family law in Stoke-on-Trent than in wealthier cities, and it brings its own orders: special guardianship, child arrangements orders in favour of a relative, and the allowances and support that a local authority may owe to a family keeping children out of care.
Care proceedings themselves, brought by the city council, are heard at the family court in the Combined Court Centre in Hanley, and parents facing them are entitled to legal aid whatever their income. Stoke-on-Trent family solicitors know the pace of these cases, which run to a 26-week timetable with social workers, a Cafcass guardian and expert assessments from the start.
Private disputes between parents follow a gentler route. A mediation information and assessment meeting is required before most applications about where a child lives or how often each parent sees them, and many disagreements in the Potteries are settled there rather than in court. Where an application is needed, the same Hanley court decides, with Cafcass advising on the child's welfare.
Where there is domestic abuse, a solicitor can get a non-molestation or occupation order in a matter of days, with legal aid to pay for it. Couples who never married should know that the law gives them very little on separation, however many years they shared a house; a declaration of trust on the property, drawn up when things are good, prevents the worst of it.
Fixed-fee first meetings are common, with hourly rates for contested work and legal aid where it applies.
The family firms below cover Stoke-on-Trent, verified practices first and the rest by distance from Hanley. Start with what family law covers and the general family law solicitors page; where the marriage itself is ending, the divorce solicitors in Stoke-on-Trent page takes over.
