Grandparent Rights

If Children’s Services become involved with your grandchild we understand you are likely to be worried and need someone independent to talk to and give you specialist advice. Our solicitors can help.

Please contact our expert family law solicitors immediately for legal advice.

Grandparents Rights – when children’s services (social services) are involved with your grandchild

If you are a grandparent and children’s services become involved with your grandchildren then you may be entitled to be assessed for the right to care for your grandchildren.

Do I have the right to see my grandchildren?

Grandparents do not automatically have a legal right to see their grandchildren. However, if children’s services are involved, there may be the opportunity to gain entitlement to care for a grandchild, such as through a Child Arrangements Order or Care Order.

What to do when social services are involved with your grandchildren

Grandparents don’t need to wait until care proceedings have started to try and support their family.

If the social worker has started working with your family ask the parents how you can help and offer support so they can demonstrate the support networks they have in place to keep the children at home.

If the pre-proceedings process has commenced, you can again offer to support the family. You can ask for assessment as a carer if the court orders the children should be removed from their family. Make sure the parents know to put you forward and that they give the social worker your contact details.

This can sometimes cause difficulties between grandparents and parents. It may help to try and explain that it is only a back up plan to stop the children going to strangers if the court says they should be removed. The local authority acknowledged it’s better for children to live with family or friends than going to live with strangers. Grandparents can become an approved foster carers for their grandchildren. Children services have to carry out assessments for any friends/family members that put themselves forward to care for children. If the initial assessment is positive this then moves onto a full assessment.

Care proceedings and the Rights of grandparents over their grandchildren

If a local authority is worried about the safety or welfare of a child they may ask the court to make a Care Order (or ‘interim’ care order). Interim care orders can last for eight weeks initially. After this period, they will be reviewed by the court every four weeks. Sometimes, a local authority may also apply to the court to have a child placed for adoption.

What is a Care Order?

A care order is an order which places a child under the care of the local authority; this is otherwise known as a child ‘being in care’. This does not mean that the parents no longer have parental responsibility. It means the parent’s wishes can be overridden if the local authority believes it is in the child’s best interests. However, the local authority must consult with the parent first.

When can a child be taken in care?

A child is only taken into care when the court is satisfied that:

The child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm
The harm, or its likelihood, results from the care the child is receiving
The child is beyond the ability of a parent to control
The child is being neglected (which includes failure to seek medical attention when needed, not providing adequate food or drink & not keeping the child clean)
The child has been, or is likely, to be abused – by their parents, carers or others (includes physical, emotional & sexual abuse).

What will happen if the local authority is worried about a child?

The first thing the local authority will do is ask the family court to make a temporary court order, called an ‘interim care order’. Then the local authority will investigate the child’s welfare and suggest a ‘care plan’. The care plan outlines what they think should happen to the child. This including whether they think the child should be taken into care or stay in the family. The care plan is given to the family court to help decide about what should happen to the child.

The social worker is trying to get a care order for my grandchildren. Why am I not involved in the proceedings?

Grandparents don’t have an automatic right to become involved in care proceedings for their grandchildren. This means that, normally, grandparents won’t be a party to the proceedings, see the paperwork or be allowed to attend court hearings. You may attend court to support the parents but you may not be allowed into the actual hearing room.

Some grandparents may have parental responsibility for their grandchildren, for example if they have a child arrangements order. If you have parental responsibility, you will automatically become a party to the proceedings and able to access legal aid.

Care proceedings are supposed to finish within 26 weeks. If your grandchildren have been taken into care you need to act very quickly. If you are worried that the parents will not have mentioned you to the social worker, you should contact the children’s services department straightaway. You need to explain you are the children’s grandparents and that you can offer them an alternative to foster care.

I’ve put myself forward to care for my grandchildren, what will happen?

If you put yourself forward to care for your grandchildren, the local authority will complete a viability assessment. Viability assessments usually consider risks and protective factors along with details about the children’s needs, your age, health, living arrangements, history and parenting skills. The social worker who completes the viability assessment will decide whether the initial assessment is positive or negative.

If the initial assessment is positive you will not need to do anything further as the assessment will move to become a full assessment. If the initial assessment is negative then it is possible for grandparents to challenge the decision of the social worker. Grandparents can apply to become a party to the proceedings, also called “party status”, and for there to be a full assessment. The court can direct an assessment of you even if the Local Authority refuse to complete it. This can be redone by a local authority or by an independent social worker. If you have a negative initial assessment contact our specialist family solicitors for help straightaway.

If you want to put yourself forward to care for your children you need to do this as soon as possible. The local authority have to look at wider family members as possible carers before they consider foster care or adoption. The court won’t wait for family members who delay putting themselves forward until the last minute as delay is not in children’s best interests.

My grandchildren are in foster care, how do I get to see them?

We understand how worrying it is when your grandchildren are taken into care and you don’t get to see them. You might also be worried that you need to keep your bond with them especially if you are putting yourself forward as a possible kinship carer. The first step is to ask the social worker to arrange contact. If this doesn’t work our solicitors can help you apply for an order for contact with a child in care.

My grandchildren have been placed with me. I want advice about the different types of order the court could make before I agree with the social worker

When the local authority have completed all their assessments, and decided that the best long term option for your grandchildren is to be placed with you, they will confirm their position to the court and other parties in their final statement and care plan. The social worker needs to think about the different types of orders the court could make when they write their recommendations and will want to discuss this with you.

The order under which your grandchildren live with you is really important and can affect the support you receive, including financial support, and the rights you have towards your grandchildren. The children’s guardian will usually request that the local authority fund one-off legal advice, if the local authority haven’t already offered it to you.

What do I do?

If you are a grandparent and have further questions regarding care proceedings or if you require legal advice about care proceedings or mediation, please contact Grandparent Rights by ringing 0161 359 3880 or 01204 377600 or contact our expert family solicitors by email familysolicitor@afglaw.co.uk today.