Watson Esam | News | Grandparents Rights
Grandparents have always played a significant role in the lives of their grandchildren, providing invaluable support and care. Sadly for a variety of reasons parents cannot always care for their children. Grandparents and extended family members currently care for an estimated 300,000 children! Sometimes this is short term to assist in a crisis but for many of these children their grandparents will be their primary carers throughout their childhood. Recently greater public recognition and acknowledgment has been given to this enormous contribution which places very real burdens, financial and emotional, upon them. The government has introduced a grandparental national insurance credit to assist and there are numerous websites giving invaluable advice and support on the web.
Most arrangements are voluntary within the family and remain on an informal footing without difficulty. However there are situations where social services may have become involved or there are disputes with parents and others about what is best for a child. Grandparents can then feel insecure and powerless as they have no clear legal status. It is possible for the child's mother or anyone else with parental responsibility (including an unmarried father who appears on the birth certificate) to seek to remove the child or interfere in a way that is felt inappropriate. It is always wise to get early legal advice to explore what appropriate steps can or should be taken.
Grandparents can apply to the family courts for residence orders which confirm with whom a child should live and which appropriately and helpfully confers parental responsibility on the grandparent. In some circumstances special guardianship orders are appropriate, where for example the care is long term and additional support or services are required for the child or where it is felt necessary to override the view of the parents or to manage their contact. Dependant on the concerns defined contact orders and/ prohibited steps orders can also be appropriate tools to help manage these difficult family problems and clarify duties and responsibilities.
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