Grandparents’ Rights & Legal Options

Grandparents do not have an automatic right to see their grandchildren. There are many situations, where the parents split up, and grandparents are denied access to the grandchildren. The family court does recognise, however, the invaluable role that grandparents play in the lives of their grandchildren.

Only parties with parental responsibility can make an application for a child arrangements order.
A grandparent therefore needs to make an application for permission first, to apply for a child arrangements order. The family court will then consider:

• The grandparents’ connection with the child
• The application to see the grandchild, and the reasons behind it
• Whether the children application might be potentially harmful to the child’s wellbeing in any way

The court’s primary consideration is the welfare of the child, and a family judge will always make an order in the child’s best interests.

It is important that as a grandparent, you receive good, specialist family law advice to help you make your children application, and have the correct reasons set out, together with information about what you are asking the court to do. The judge will want to see that your application is well-motivated and is going to promote the welfare of the child and this is in his/her best interests.

The family court will need to weigh up whether any continuing contact with the child, might have a negative impact on the rest of the family relationships, and in some circumstances, albeit extreme, the family court may refuse access to the grandchildren.

The parents of the child must be notified of any children application you make as a grandparent. Of course, if the parents do not object, then it is much more likely that your application will be successful.

However, if the divorce or separation is acrimonious, it is likely that one parent will object to a grandparent seeing the child. You, as a grandparent, may still proceed with your application, and the court will require a full hearing where all parties will present their evidence to the court. This is the same procedure for a normal child arrangements application.

In reaching a decision, the family court will not only listen to your case, and that of the parents, but where appropriate, may also consider the views, wishes and feelings of the grandchildren, via a CAFCASS welfare officer.

The family court must always put the best interests of the child ahead of any other considerations, those best interests are always paramount.

A court application for a child arrangements order should always be considered as a last resort. A specialist family law solicitor can help you set out proposals and to invite the parents to agree, or help resolve this issue, and to promote the grandparents’ rights and contact to the grandchildren.

Mediation is another alternative, and a trained and experienced mediator can help all parties reach a satisfactory child law agreement without the need for family law court orders. If, these steps fail, then the remaining family law option is to make an application to court for a child arrangements order.

If you have been unfairly denied contact to your grandchildren, or you feel that your rights have been unfairly restricted, then we can help you by explaining what steps you need to take, and how to promote the best interests of your grandchildren.

We are specialist and family law and children solicitors and experts in this field. We also have a Mediator who can also help you as an alternative. We are also ranked in Tier 1 of the Legal 500 2024 and offer a fixed-fee first consultation where we can help advise you and set out the next steps to help you resolve the child welfare issues.