HUDDERSFIELD carers are being urged to seek legal advice after being asked to sign away their rights to a benefit increase, it was claimed.
People who take in "looked-after children" could lose up to £30,000 over a child's 16-year lifetime under new criteria introduced by Kirklees Council earlier this month.
The warning, by Huddersfield solicitor Nigel Priestley, of Ridley and Hall, comes after carers receiving the residence allowance were sent letters by the Council asking them to confirm they were no longer entitled to the benefit.
These included relatives who care for children who would otherwise be taken into care.
Mr Priestley said: "I have been contacted by two carers who have been told their child is not in Kirklees' opinion a "Looked After Child".
"The phrase is a legal term under the Children Act 1989 which needs an experienced children's lawyer to understand and investigate.
"It is vital that people who have the benefit of residence allowance take legal advice before signing away their rights.
"The Council is wrong in the two cases I am dealing with. With this track record it may have got other decisions wrong."
A Kirklees Council social services spokesman said: "The council has been extremely mindful in introducing the new arrangements to ensure that nobody currently in receipt of a residence allowance will lose out."
