What legal rights do grandparents have to see their grandchildren?
For a free consultation about the question, ‘Do grandparents have rights to see their grandchildren?’ give us a call or send us an email.
When a relationship breaks down it can impact contact between grandparents and their grandchildren. Unfortunately, grandparents do not have an automatic entitlement to see their grandchildren. Gaining access to your grandchildren therefore involves a number of different approaches, and will depend on your specific circumstances, such as family dynamics, legal factors, and your relationship with the parents of your grandchildren.
Informal arrangements for contact with your grandchildren.
We usually start by exploring the possibility of arranging agreed contact between grandparents and their grandchildren. Here are some general principles that can help achieve this:
- Open communication with your children: Talk to your adult children. Start by having a conversation about your desire to spend time with your grandchildren. Explain your feelings and intentions, and express your love and interest in being involved in their lives.
- Address any concerns: If there are concerns or misunderstandings, try to understand and address them. Respect people’s wishes and acknowledge any issues they might have with you spending time with the grandchildren.
- Offer support: If appropriate, offer help to your children in practical ways, such as babysitting, taking the grandchildren to activities, or simply being there for your child. This can create more opportunities for you to spend time with your grandchildren.
- Respect boundaries: It is important to recognise that your children are the primary decision-makers in their children’s lives. Even if you want more access, try to be understanding if they set limits or have specific rules for interaction.
- Family counselling or mediation: If you continue to face challenges or disagreements regarding access to your grandchildren, family counselling or mediation can help facilitate communication and resolve conflicts in a neutral setting.
Each family situation is unique, so it’s important to approach this with patience, understanding, and respect for everyone’s needs and boundaries.
Your legal options for contact with your grandchildren.
Contact between grandparents and grandchildren can be included as part of a Child Arrangements Order (CAO) granted to the child’s parent. However, where this does not occur, grandparents can make their their own application to the court for a CAO to give them contact.
In most cases, a grandparent will need to seek permission from the court to make the application. This requirement is intended to act as a filter to protect the children and their family against unwarranted interference.
When deciding whether or not to grant permission, the court will have particular regard to:
- the nature of the proposed application
- the applicant’s connection with the child; and
- any risk of the proposed application disrupting the child’s life to such an extent that they would be harmed by it.
These are not exclusive. There may be other factors for the court to take into account. The role of grandparents and extended family members in a child’s life will not be underestimated. In cases where parents are unable to care for a child, the court may look to grandparents and other family members as potential alternate carers.
If permission is refused, the application will end. If permission is granted, the court will then proceed to deal with the application for a contact order.
Obtain a free consultation about grandparents rights
If you are having difficulties in having contact with your grandchildren, then our specialist lawyers are here to help.
Contact us for a free, no obligation consultation. We will assess your situation, outline your best options, and discuss what the legal costs are likely to be and how they can be funded.
