"Please sign our Grandparents Rights petition"
17/04/2007
Do you feel strongly about the rights - or lack of them - that grandparents currently have in family court.
Michael Robinson is a freelance writer and author living in Cumbria who specialises in family law, psychology and matters relating to child welfare. A regular contributor to legal, parenting and psychotherapeutic journals, Michael also contributes policy suggestions to the three main political parties and is currently running a campaign to grant legal rights to grandparents in both public and private family law proceedings. He has sent in the following request:
Dear Mature Times:
I wonder if your readers be willing to support a petition to Downing Street to amend family law to grant legal rights to grandparents?
Grandparents play a substantial and vital role in the care of children, providing 60% of childcare, but their role is not recognised in law. A grandparent may have provided daycare for children five days a week, but has no right to apply for contact in the event parents separate or die.
We at The Custody Minefield propose an amendment to the Children Act granting the automatic right for grandparents to apply to the court for Contact or Residence Orders.
Grandparents should automatically be granted Parental Responsibility in the event of the death of the holder(s) of parental responsibility.
We ask for the automatic right to involvement in care and adoption proceedings and the automatic right to apply.
We ask that the Adoption and Children Act 2002 be amended to include grandparents alongside parents and guardians.
These measures recognise the role and importance of grandparents while adhering to the principle that the child's welfare is of paramount importance.
The website can be found on the Prime Minister's website, linked below.
Michael Robinson
"The Custody Minefield" is an essential self-help work for mothers, fathers and grandparents experiencing separation conflict and wishing to resolve issues involving residence, contact and legal parental responsibility. It also provides practical information for parents who are experiencing crisis situations. For more information visit the second link below.