What happens when your child turns 18
Written and reviewed by Patricia Hughes · Last updated · last reviewed
Special guardianship orders end when the young person turns 18, and financial support normally ends with them.
I have not reached this stage myself. What follows is what the regulation says and what to ask for, not something I have tested.
Special Guardianship Regulations 2005, reg 9 (checked 2026-08-29)The exception
Where the young person remains in full-time education or training, support can continue. This is not automatic and it is not always offered, it often has to be asked for.
Important
Ask before the eighteenth birthday, not after. Several months before is not too early.
What to ask
- What happens to my support on my child's eighteenth birthday?
- If they stay in education or training, will it continue, and for how long?
- What do you need from me, and by when?
Ask for the answer in writing. It is the document you will need if payments stop unexpectedly.
Other things that change at 18
The young person may be able to claim benefits in their own right, and your own Child Benefit and Universal Credit will be affected. This is a good moment to get a full benefits check from an adviser, the changes interact, and a check often finds something.
What you can check, and what you have to ask for
Regulation 9 is the rule. It is published, and it is what brings both the order and the support to an end.
Whether support carries on while the young person stays in education is your council's decision. It is not automatic, and how it decides is published nowhere. Ask months ahead, and ask for the answer in writing.
Work out what your council should be paying you It takes under a minute, and nothing you type leaves your browser.
Common questions
My child is staying at school. Does the allowance carry on?
It can. Where the young person remains in full-time education or training, financial support may continue. Ask your council to confirm in writing what it will do and from when.
When should I ask?
Well before the eighteenth birthday, several months. Sorting it out after payments have stopped is much harder than sorting it out before.
This is an estimate, not legal advice. Financial support for special guardians is discretionary, and there is no fixed amount you can require your council to pay. It shows you the figure your council should be starting from, and what the rules and the published decisions say about how it has to decide.
Your council can lawfully pay less than the maximum after properly assessing your circumstances. If something here matters to your case, talk to one of the advice lines below before you rely on it.
Where these figures and rules come from
- GOV.UK, Help with the cost of fostering, on allowances after a child is old enough to leave foster care (checked 2026-09-03, shown from the web archive because the original address no longer responds)States in terms: "There is no minimum allowance when your child is old enough to leave foster care."
- Special Guardianship Regulations 2005, reg 9 (checked 2026-08-29)Financial support ceases in the circumstances set out in the regulation, including when the child reaches 18 unless the conditions for continuing are met.
- Special Guardianship Regulations 2005, reg 6 (checked 2026-08-29)
Related guides
Who can help
These organisations give free, independent advice on kinship care and special guardianship. They are not part of your council.
- Kinship: advice and peer support for kinship carers. kinship.org.uk
- Family Rights Group: free advice line for families dealing with children's services. frg.org.uk
- Citizens Advice: benefits, debt and general advice. citizensadvice.org.uk
- Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (England), if you have complained to your council and are not satisfied. lgo.org.uk