Grandparents Rights

When parents separate, grandparents can find themselves pushed to the edges of their grandchildren’s lives. What can they actually do about it?

In this episode, Simon Fenton talks to Chris Sutton, Head of Family Law, about grandparents’ rights. Chris explains that grandparents have almost no automatic legal right to see their grandchildren. Decisions about who children spend time with sit with the people who have parental responsibility, which is usually the parents.

There are routes through the court, though. Chris talks through the situations where he has had the most success, including where grandparents are essentially stepping into the shoes of an absent parent. He also explains a hurdle many people don’t expect, which is that grandparents have to ask the court’s permission before they can make an application at all, and what the court considers when deciding whether to give it.

Watch the full episode to hear Chris’s advice for grandparents who have tried everything else.