Grandparents’ right to see their grandchildren may become law
GRANDPARENTS could get an effective legal right to see their grandchildren after divorces under proposals to be examined by ministers, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.
Lucy Frazer QC, a justice minister, said she would consider a change in the law to establish a “presumption” that grandparents can see their grandchildren after parents split up.
The proposed change would require judges to put greater weight on attempts by grandparents, uncles and aunts to win access to their grandchildren, nephews and nieces. MPS from all parties are backing an amendment to the Children’s Act 1989 to enshrine in law the child’s right to have a relationship with their grandparents and other close members of the extended family.
They are complaining that some “alienated” grandparents are being investigated by police for harassment after sending birthday cards to their grandchildren.
Dame Esther Rantzen, the BBC presenter and a campaigner for grandparents’ rights, said any new legal right would be “wonderful news for grandchildren”. She said: “It is a relationship that matters so much and I have heard tragic stories of grandparents forced to try to prove there is a relationship. The law needs to recognise this relationship. The French have got it right – they give children the legal right of access to their extended family, particularly grandparents, and they have got it the right way round.”
Lucy Peake, the chief executive of charity Grandparents Plus, added: “Too many grandparents are cut out of their grandchildren’s lives when parents separate. Research suggests that an ongoing close relationship with grandparents is positive for children at this time. It’s devastating for grandparents, causes conflict and upset and is often not in the interests of the children.”
Currently grandparents face a twostage process, first applying to court for the right to apply for access, and then going through the formal process of applying for “child arrangement orders”. Ministry of Justice figures show that 2,000 grandparents applied for “child arrangement orders” in 2016 – up 25 per cent in just a year. The process can cost thousands of pounds in legal fees and take years.
Tim Loughton MP, a Conservative former children’s minister, pointed out during a Commons debate that there was a “supposition that the parents should both be as involved as possible in their children’s upbringing”.
He asked if “it would be equally appropriate to have a presumption that grandparents should be involved as much as possible in the upbringing of those children, unless – and only unless – there is a problem with the welfare of that child?”
Tory MP Nigel Huddleston said “a number of grandparents” were “being visited by the police and accused of harassment” for trying to “send birthday
cards or Christmas gifts to their grandchildren”. Mr Huddleston said: “I have heard horrendous stories about children being put up for adoption despite the grandparents wanting to care for them. They cannot, however, afford the legal costs to pursue the issue through the courts.”
Campaigner Jane Jackson – who is seeing her teenage granddaughter for the first time in 10 years this Bank Holiday weekend – said that not seeing her grandchild after her son’s divorce was like a “living bereavement”.
She said: “You go through the stages of grief as you do when you actually lose someone, except you are grieving for someone who is still alive. Not being able to tell her how much she was loved was beyond words. I just had a constant knot in my stomach, a huge void. She was my first grandchild, my first granddaughter, and she always will be.”
Ms Frazer said she would “look” at whether there needed to be “a change in the law in relation to presumption” of grandparents’ access rights.
“It is clear that the system could work better and I am keen to look into how we can improve it,” she said.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman added: “We will consider any proposals for helping children maintain involvement with grandparents.”