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QMy husband and I have had a disagreement with my son and his wife. They have 2 children aged 9 and 7 and they have told my husband and I that we will never see our grandchildren again. We regularly see them after school and at the weekends and they would often stay overnight without their parents at our home. We would also take them away for a short holiday every summer without their parents and we would like to keep doing this. What can we do? This is a very difficult area as there are no set laws or specific rules confirming grandparents rights. What however is clear is that a court must consider what is in the best interests of the children and in applying this principal the court has to consider the relationship which the children had with your husband and yourself and also the impact upon

Athe children should they not be able to continue their relationship with you both. You may wish to consider approaching your son and daughter-in-law and explain to them that you do still very much wish to continue your relationship with your grandchildren and make proposals for contact to continue. If these proposals are not accepted and agreement cannot be reached then sadly you will have to consider involving the Family Mediation Service to see whether they can assist in reaching an agreement. If the Mediation Service cannot assist then you can then consider applying to the court for a Court Order. It is however imperative that the children do not become embroiled in any disagreements between your son and yourselves so whatever action may be necessary it is important that the children do not become “in the middle”.

Lesley Knight, Chartered Legal Executive, Lesley.knight@hegarty.co.uk