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Grandparents may be left powerless in divorce proceedings

With one in three working mothers relying on grandparents for child care and grandmothers getting their own social networking site Gransnet it would appear that grandparents are now all powerful. But that’s not the case if the grandchild’s parents divorce says Helen Saggers, a family law expert with Barr Ellison Solicitors.

“When a couple divorces, grandparents, who may have played a significant role in a child or children’s life, could find themselves cut out completely. And while they can turn to the law it’s a difficult route. They are not automatically entitled to apply to a court for an order under Section 8 of the Children Act 1989, which covers contact orders, residence, prohibited steps orders (which can stop a step being taken by a person with parental responsibility without the court’s permission e.g. taking the child out of the country) and specific issue orders, which give direction to determine specific questions, such as which school the child should attend.

So in most cases the grandparents are required to seek the permission of the court to be entitled to proceed with an application and it will be for the court to decide whether or not the request should be granted. The court may grant permission on the basis of the written application alone or may direct that there should be a hearing in which case all the parties involved would be required to be notified of the court date and attend on the date set.

The court when considering whether leave should be given look at the nature of the proposed application, the grandparents’ connection with the child e.g. how involved have they been in the child’s life and the risk of any harmful disruption to the child’s life if leave were granted.

The good news is that in most cases I have dealt with leave has always been granted, but of course that is just the beginning. The tricky issue then is to try and sort out whether their application for contact will succeed. In the majority of cases I have dealt with grandparents have played a significant role in the child’s life, not just in providing child care but also often offering stability to the child/children while the parents’ relationship is in melt down.

In some cases the grandparents are the makers of their own misfortune by taking sides and alienating the mother if she is the primary carer and their son the father. It is understandable that following a breakdown of a marriage they would want to support their child’s side but this can lead to them being ostracised and losing contact with the children especially if the mother is holding all the cards and announces that the children are not coming to stay with their grandparents anymore.

So while grandparents might have a greater voice online and a huge role in their grandchildren’s lives while the going is good they are a long way from having power when a marriage fails.”

Helen Saggers’ blog can be found at http://www.barrellison.com/wordpress/category/family-law-blog/

For more information on divorce or family matters please contact Marion Tucker on 01223 417200

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