Grandparents Rights
Just like parents, grandparents often play a key role in their grandchildren's lives. When family breakdowns occur, children can lose out on spending quality time with their Grandparents.
In some cases, children can be stopped from speaking to or seeing certain family members when disputes occur between parents. It’s vital to understand the importance of letting children maintain the loving and meaningful relationships they have enjoyed, especially in the formative years of their development.
Extended family can play a huge part in a child's life, which is why it’s essential to make every effort to put differences aside for the sake of the children, wherever possible. If you’re a grandparent and you are experiencing difficulties with close family members, it is important to know where you stand legally.
There are many steps that can be taken to ensure you have a lasting relationship with your grandchildren. If you’re a grandparent, you might be thinking about how to apply for grandparents' rights - but is this possible? To learn more, read on.
What are Grandparents' Rights?
Unfortunately, in the UK, there are no legal rights in relation to grandparents having contact with their grandchildren. Whether you’ve fallen out with your child over parenting issues regarding your grandchildren or been told you’re not allowed to see your grandchildren anymore, you should enquire with a solicitor and gain advice and support concerning your Family Law-related issues.
Grandparents’ Rights: The Process
One of the easiest ways to resolve family disputes is by talking openly to one another, with the goal of reaching an agreement. If you’re a grandparent, we recommend that you consider whether you’ve made sufficient attempts to reach out to your relatives to try and resolve the issue at hand.
If you believe that all attempts have been made to put an end to your dispute and nothing has been achieved, you should reach out to a trusted solicitor. When an agreement can’t be reached, seeking mediation services could be in your favour. Issuing a Court application can be particularly overwhelming, not to mention expensive and time-consuming.
Mediation can be a better option that is more cost-effective and relatively streamlined compared to going through the court in many cases. In any event, prior to making an application for permission to apply for a Child Arrangements Order, you must attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM).
The Importance of Grandparents
In most cases, children want to remain close to their grandparents, but ongoing fallouts often lead to parents stopping their grandchildren from seeing their grandparents completely. Spending time with grandparents offers stability and continuity - allowing the child another person to confide in and trust.
Grandparents play vital roles in children’s lives, giving them love and attention when they need it most. It’s great for a child to grow up with family members around them who provide them with care. Adults falling out with their parents shouldn’t affect their children’s relationship with their grandparents.
It’s important to understand the benefits of allowing your children to spend time with trusted family members, regardless of the fallouts you have. Involving your children in your personal issues is a negative way to handle the situation.
Family Law at Bell Lamb & Joynson
Here at Bell Lamb & Joynson, we pride ourselves on providing the best services possible. It can be challenging as a grandparent trying to find expert services local to you - but not to worry. Our firm has been in business for over 200 years, leaving us with two decades' worth of experience and knowledge within the industry.
Our trusted team of Family Law solicitors are on hand at all times to offer guidance, support and professional advice. We understand the importance of family, which is why we dedicate time and effort to making sure our Family Law service is second to none.
We have dealt with families from all walks of life, residing in various areas across the UK. No case is too difficult for us to deal with - you can rest assured that you’re in the safest hands when you come to Bell Lamb & Joynson. For those who have been denied access to their grandchildren, we recommend that you seek legal advice.
Covering all aspects of Family Law, our team can successfully deal with cases regarding grandparents' rights, divorce, relationship breakdown, social service matters and adoption cases to name a few. Family is everything, so it’s important to keep them close and overcome fallouts. When times get tough, you can rely on us to give you the right advice.
Our team consists of friendly, ambitious individuals who care deeply about their clients. We offer a sympathetic, yet practical approach that’s proven to help many. If you’re struggling with family issues as a grandparent and need to speak to a member of our team in regard to our services, please contact us today via email here. We look forward to hearing from you in the near future.