Grandparent RightsGrandparents that have been bringing up their grandchildren are in line for payouts of millions in extra support. This breakthrough is the result of a pensioner who won the right to be treated as her grandson’s foster mother.
The 68-year-old woman from Derbyshire, who has been looking after the 13-year-old since he was a baby and earlier cared for another grandchild, launched a High Court after learning that she would be receiving almost twice as much financial support if she was a stranger.
In the difficult circumstances of a family break-up, grandparents are often the forgotten victims of separation.
In cases of parents separating or divorcing, despite grandparents having built close emotional bonds with their grandchildren, they unfortunately have no automatic rights to remain in contact with them after the separation. It’s bordering on heartless when grandparents risk arrest for sending a card or present to a beloved grandchild at Christmas.
It appears that the Protection from Harassment Act, which was introduced to prevent stalkers targeting vulnerable women, is being deployed against grandparents who seek to keep simply the most passing contact with their grandchildren. According to campaigners, grandparents risk arrest for sending cards if the parent the child is living objects to contact. “This is not a small issue,” explains Jane Jackson, of the Bristol Grandparents Support Group. “It is something that desperately needs looking into. It is leaving loving grandparents frightened and suicidal.”
This is clearly a difficult and emotive issue – and it is one that was partially addressed in the Government’s Family Justice Review, conducted by David Norgrove and published last year. It called for measures to ensure grandparents have a greater chance of retaining contact with their grandchildren by emphasising the value of their access in parenting agreements. However, divorces and separations are often so acrimonious that the prospect of reasoned discussion about future access can be remote. T
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Courtesy of Emma Cordock – family law solicitor at AFG LAW, Bury
I have worked in family law for 10 years now. During my training, through qualification as a Legal Executive to becoming a solicitor I have seen the role of grandparents in the care of their grandchildren increase.
They are not only a support to their grandchildren in providing practical and emotional support, grandparents are now becoming care givers for their grandchildren either for a short period or full time.