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Adoption

How it actually
works, start to end

Written for people who have never done this before. If a sentence here is unclear, that is our failure, not yours — tell us and we will rewrite it.

The four routes

Which one applies to you depends almost entirely on where the child is and whether you already know them.

Agency adoptionYou are approved by an adoption agency, then matched with a child you have not met. The longest route, and the one with the most waiting that has nothing to do with law. Approval takes about six months; matching is unpredictable.
12–24 months
Foster to adoptThe child is already living with you as a foster placement, and everyone agrees they should stay. Shorter, because the relationship exists and the local authority already holds most of the evidence.
9–18 months
Step-parent adoptionYou are adopting your partner’s child. Legally simple unless the other birth parent objects or cannot be found — and then it is entirely about consent.
5–12 months
Intercountry adoptionThe child lives abroad. Two legal systems, certified translations, documents with expiry dates, and a UK recognition stage at the end. Expensive, slow, and completely achievable.
2–4 years
Kinship and special guardianshipSometimes adoption is not the right instrument at all — for grandparents and aunts, a special guardianship order is often better and faster. We will tell you if that is your situation.
4–10 months

The stages, in order

01

First call

Half an hour, free. We work out which route applies and whether anything obvious will block it.

02

Assessment

Home study, references, medicals, DBS checks. Months, not weeks. We prepare you for the questions.

03

Panel and matching

Approval panel, then matching panel. We attend, and we read the reports before they go in.

04

Court

Placement order, then the adoption order. The hearing itself is usually short and often quite emotional.

What it costs

Fixed fees, agreed before we start. Court fees and disbursements are separate and we list them up front.

Step-parent adoptionIncludes the application, statement, and one hearing. Consent searches billed separately if needed.
£2,400–£4,000
Agency adoptionAdvice through assessment, panel and the order. Most of this is preparation, not court time.
£2,800–£4,800
Foster to adoptIncludes negotiation with the local authority, which is where the work usually is.
£3,200–£5,500
Intercountry adoptionTwo jurisdictions, translations, recognition. The range is wide because the countries differ wildly.
£7,000–£12,000
Court fee (adoption order)Paid to the court, not to us. Correct at the time of writing this demo page.
£183
First conversationThirty minutes, no obligation, no file opened.
Free

What slows cases down

Almost never the law. It is a social worker on long-term leave whose cases were not reassigned, a medical form sitting in a GP’s tray, a reference that was posted to the wrong office.

This is why we log every chase. When a case has stalled for eight weeks, we can show exactly who was asked what and when — and that tends to move things.

What we will tell you honestly

If your case is straightforward enough to do without a solicitor, we will say so. If a route is unlikely to succeed, we will say that too, at the first call, before you have paid anything.

We would rather lose the fee than take money for two years of a case that was never going to work.

Questions people ask

Are we too old?

There is no upper age limit in law. Agencies will consider the age gap between you and the child, and it matters more for babies than for older children — but “too old” as a flat refusal is not a legal position, and we have argued that successfully.

Can we adopt if we are not married?

Yes. Unmarried couples, civil partners and single applicants can all adopt. Anyone who tells you otherwise is describing a policy, not the law.

We rent. Does that matter?

Not in itself. The assessment looks at stability and space, not at whether you hold a mortgage.

What if the birth parents object?

Then the court decides whether to dispense with their consent, and the test is the child’s welfare throughout their life. It is a serious hearing and it is where having a specialist matters most.

Do we have to tell the child they are adopted?

There is no legal obligation, but every piece of research and every adoption social worker in the country will tell you to. So will we.

How long before we can bring them home?

After the placement order, quickly. After that the adoption order is a formality in most cases — but the months before that are the slow part, and nobody can promise you a date.

Can we change solicitors mid-case?

Yes, at any point. About one in six of our clients comes to us that way. We will request the file and take it from wherever it stopped.

This page describes the law of England and Wales in general terms, invented for a demonstration website. It is not advice, and you should not act on it.