publication date: Jun 30, 2010
|
author/source: Grace Parker-White
Grandparents currently do not fall under the category of people who may apply for a
contact order under the
Children Act 1989 (the Act) other than in very
limited circumstances. Therefore, they have no
legal redress should they lose contact with their
grandchildren, be that following a
rift with their own child or after a
divorce in the family,
Grandparents may be bereft when
contact is lost; this could also
impact on the grandchild as their family "
support network" may shrink as a result. In addition,
research suggests that grandparents increasingly play an
invaluable role emotionally and
financially for families. However, to date these many benefits have not been
formally recognised.
The Labour Government outlined a
major review into the
family justice system, including providing
grandparents with
extra recognition and an automatic
right of access to their grandchildren. The new
coalition Government has recently announced
similar plans, stating that
grandparents can play a vital role, particularly following a
separation or divorce. They intend to look at
providing greater access rights to the non-resident parent and
grandparents. The
situation would be different if a grandparent
posed a threat to a child, or if there was a
legitimate reason why the child did not have
contact with them. It is envisaged that in
deciding these cases, courts will continue to have at the
forefront of their thinking what would be in that
child's best interests. The competing interests of the
bereft grandparent would have to be
balanced against the wishes, feelings and the impact that
any contact would have on that
child. Although
exact details are awaited, it is anticipated that
grandparents will be included within the
current Act, enabling them to
apply for a
contact order. A contact order requires the
person with whom a child lives to
allow the child to visit or stay with the person
named in that order. These applications are made on a
prescribed form which can be obtained from
Her Majesty's Court Service website and can be dealt with by most
county courts.
Although
referring matters to the court should generally be the
last resort, such changes to
legislation should highlight to parents the
important role grandparents can play. These measures should also help to
empower grandparents to ensure that
contact with their
grandchildren is not lost.
Grace Parker-White is a Senior Associate in the Family and Matrimonial Department at
Stevens & Bolton LLP.
Grace can be
contacted on +44 (0)1483 401250 or by email: grace.parker-white@stevens-bolton.com
