childrens act 1989 - section 8

[ConfusedMum]

can anybody tell me how this law applies to grandparents, if at all? how does this law work so to speak/what is this law about? i have searched on several search engines and it seems this is pages and pages long and completley confusing. can anybody give me a brief outline of this law? also, i don't think i'm going to word this correctly but hopefully someone will understand what i'm getting at... is their any criteria to meet to go to court with this law?
thanks for any help!

xXx

[plowter]

It might be easier if you explained what you want. Other ABers might have similar problems.

Are you a grandparent who wants a contact order with a child? Grandparents do have rights to contact and grandchildren also have rights to ask for contact with their gps.

The most important principle is what's in the best interests of the child.

The Grandparents Association might be able to help. They run a helpline 0845 4349585 (M-F 10:00 - 15:30)

[ConfusedMum]

partners parents are wanting contact wth our son - although we don't think this is in sons best interests at all. they have no relationship with him at all and have seen him once since he was 4months old, in that time have made it so so difficult to get along and aint interested now in sorting broken relationships out. partners mum threatened to take us to court, then threatened to take us to court for 'grandparents rights', then threatened to take us to court for 'supervised access'. my other question posted in law is about supervised access cause i don't understand that either - all these laws are so confusing and they don't seem to clearly mention grandparents... all seems to mention parents,/parents that have seperated. me and partner are deffinitly not seperate and both agree this wouldn't be in sons best interests. but i'm asking for an outline of the laws as i could have read them wrong or misinterpreted it as i said there is pages and pages on the above law from what i've read.
xXx

[sambro]

Just an idea - maybe if you were to ask what it was you want or dont want from the childrens act it might make your questions easier to answer.

I am being sincere - dont want to cause any offence.

[ConfusedMum]

that's just it- i don't have a clue - as daft as that sounds. received a letter from partners parents saying they will be taking us to court and said they had rights within the childrens act 1989 section 8. i had never heard of that law/act until the letter - hopefully it's a little clearer now why i am confused and wanting some basic info about how that effects grandparents and grandchildren.

xXx

[plowter]

Hmm. My understanding is that the parents have clear legal rights. Those rights don't automatically extend to other members of a family because where does that stop? Grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, half-cousins?

If a family member wants access to the children they would have to demonstrate that it would be in the best interests of the child. The gp would have to demonstrate that it would be beneficial to the child. If the parent objects they would have to explain why they thought it would be detrimental to the child (disruption to routine, potential violence, abuse, etc.).

Both parties would be saying that it's in the child's interests to have contact/not have contact with X for the following reasons.

There are also the views of the child to take into account. If the 'child doesn't' like granny then I can't imagine any court would force the child to visit them. When alls said and done it's what's best for the child.

Th gps would also have to explain to a court why they could not reach agreement with the parents or, to look at it another way, why the parents were being unreasonable in denying them access or the frequency of access they wanted.

Unless there are exceptionally difficult circumstances it might be worthwhile considering mediation.

[MustafaTickl]

In the situation which you state a Childrens Act Section 8 contact Order will only be granted to a person or persons who have the consent of of those who have the parental responsibility of the child.

You and your partner have the parental reponsibility but do not consent so no order will be made.

[plowter]

These links might help:

The CAFCASS website gives a brief overview, scroll down to Contact Orders - section 8 Children Act 1989

The NT&AS website is more expansive, scroll down to Section 8 Orders.

The Children's Legal Centre website has FAQs on contact issues.

[ConfusedMum]

thanks for all the advice! quite a bit clearer now! i di dphone parentline before and they als gave me the childrens legal centre number - which i will phone on monday.

again, thanks for all the advice!

xXx