Placement and adoption orders – the latest news in 2025

This webinar provides a comprehensive update on adoption and placement orders, essential for family law practitioners who represent parents, extended family members, local authorities, and children.

You will gain a clear understanding of key principles, including the appropriate panel for a child’s case, the stages of placement, approval, and matching, as well as recent developments on the revocation of placement orders and opposition to adoption orders. With judicial perspectives, including insights from the President of the Family Division, this webinar will examine the evolving position on post-adoption contact into 2025. Additionally, it will explore the distinctions between placement orders and other public law orders, particularly in relation to the transfer of parental responsibility.

Topics covered include:

• Placement orders – effects and applications
• Placement orders – exercise of parental responsibility
• Criteria for granting a placement order and processes
• Various aspects of the adoption regulations
• Need for child’s permanence report (written report) and implications
• Adoption panels and processes – approving, matching and recommending
• Revocation of placement orders – When, why and the criteria?
• Leave to oppose making of adoption orders – what is the correct position with these applications?
• Revocation of adoption orders- when would this be granted?
• Consideration of decision in Re X and Y (Children: Adoption order: Setting aside) [2025] EWCA Civ 2
• Interrelationship between s.26 ACA 2022 and S.51A ACA 2002
• Consideration of Re R and C (Adoption or Fostering) [2024] EWCA Civ 1302
• Developments surrounding post adoption contact
• Views of the President of the family division and adoption contact, together with the public law working group recommendation for best practice in adoption