Grandparents' Contact Rights

Following a divorce or separation, parents can find themselves in the unenviable position of having to go to Court to settle disputes over child contact arrangements. However, it is not just the parents who may experience child contact problems.

Grandparents' contact to their grandchildren may also be affected by the split, and grandparents may have a long expensive fight ahead of them to secure contact rights.

Under the present law step-parents can acquire more rights than a child’s natural grandparents. Providing step-parents have lived as part of the family for 3 years, they will automatically have the right to apply to Court for contact. In contrast, grandparents must first seek the Court’s permission to apply for contact. This adds a further stage to the process, and much greater expense.

This discrepancy in the law has not gone unnoticed, and campaign groups are now lobbying MPs to ask for the law to be changed to give Grandparents the same rights as step-parents. A new report has been drawn up to highlight the loophole by Families Need Fathers, The Grandparents Association and the Family Matters Institute. The report, which includes a foreward by TV presenter Gloria Hunniford, emphasises the difficulty and expense that some grandparents face in securing contact with their grandchildren following divorce, separation or the death of a parent. Grandparents often play an important role in a child’s life, and the sad reality is that the complicated and expensive system currently in place acts as an obstacle to many Grandparents seeking contact.

Kim Aucott, Family Law expert at George Davies said “I receive a lot of enquiries from grandparents who are distraught at not being able to see their grandchildren. For some, they have played a significant role in the child’s life and have very close bonds. Many parents rely heavily on grandparents to provide childcare. Until there is a change in the law I would advise grandparents not to wait too long before contacting me to discuss a way forward”.