Legal Advice For Grandparents 

By law grandparents don’t get automatic rights to have contact with their grandchildren, which means in most cases parents can choose to refuse their children contact with grandparents.

However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that grandparents have no other options. The reason that most grandparents are not allowed access to grandchild is usually due to a breakdown in the relationship between the child-parent and the grandparents. Therefore the first course of action should be to try and repair the relationship if possible.

In circumstances where this is difficult/not possible, a professional social worker or family mediator may be able to help you come to an agreement/resolution. Resolving problems between the adults (the child/’s parents and the grandparents) is normally the only solution.

Are there exceptions?

Exceptions are rare and normally involve circumstance where the parents of the children are putting them at risk in some way. For example, if, abuse, addiction, or neglect is a factor.

In situations like this, the parents of the child/children might try to refuse access because the grandparents are trying to intervene due to concern for their grandchild’s welfare. In situations like this, seeking professional legal advice is vital.