Do grandparents have legal rights to grandchildren?

A dad in Rhode Island has hit the news recently after his late wife’s parents made a court application for contact with his daughter. The grandparents, who are both doctors, applied to court following their contact being stopped, after incidents such as giving medical treatment to the child without her father’s consent, and encouraging their daughter, who later died, not to seek medical treatment for cancer. The court ruled in favour of the father.

Although there are cases where grandparents can be prevented from having contact with their grandchildren due to safeguarding concerns, many grandparents unfortunately experience contact with their grandchildren restricted or removed when their children go through a divorce or separation and come to us seeking advice on their rights.

Applying to court

It is a common misconception that grandparents have any automatic rights to contact with their grandchildren in England and Wales and in most cases, grandparents enjoy contact with the permission and encouragement of the parents. When contact becomes difficult, the first step is often to try and repair their relationship with their child and the other parent and ensuring that they do not involve themselves in (or encourage) any conflict between parents undergoing a separation, will go a long way.

However, this is not always possible and where grandparents cannot reach an agreement for contact with the parent of the child, they can apply to the court for a Child Arrangements Order. Before making their application to court, they will first be required to attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting with a qualified family mediator, who will provide information on how mediation can be utilised to resolve the issue, and determine the suitability of mediation. If mediation is unsuitable or unsuccessful, for example if the parents refuse to mediate or an agreement cannot be reached, the mediator will provide a sign-off for the grandparent to make an application to court.

The next step is to seek the court’s permission to make an application for a Child Arrangements Order (compared to parents, who do not require such permission when making their own applications). When deciding whether to grant permission, the court will consider the relationship between the grandparents and the child, what sort of contact the grandparents are seeking, and whether the application is in the best interests of the child.

If the court’s permission is obtained, an application for a Child Arrangements Order seeking contact with the child may be submitted to the court.

What does the court consider in deciding whether to grant contact to grandparents?

• The child’s welfare is paramount to every case, and the court uses the Child Welfare Checklist (as detailed at |Section 1 of the Children Act 1989). Briefly, the court will consider factors such as the wishes and feelings of the child, the child’s needs, the effect of any change on the child, the risk of any harm to the child, and the capability of the parents/grandparents to meet those needs.
• Known as the ‘no order principle’, the court will not make any order if it does not consider that it would further the child’s welfare.
• Whether contact with grandparents would take away time from time with the parents to a harmful extent.
• If the parents raise objections and the court considers them fair. The court has made it clear that hostility towards grandparents is not a good reason to prevent contact, and that relationships between grandparents and grandchildren are important.

This would not apply in cases where grandparents are seeking parental responsibility, for example where the child’s parents are unable to care for the child.

More information

At Pinney Talfourd, our specialist family lawyers are members of Resolution, dealing with many matters using a collaborative approach. If you are a grandparent seeking advice on contact with your grandchildren, please contact a member of our family team to book a free initial consultation.