The Government recently announced that there is to be a major review of the family justice system. The review will be aimed at allowing children greater access to their fathers and grandparents after parents separate. There are also plans afoot to provide new fathers with a guide before their child is born, to encourage them to play a bigger role in their children’s lives.
Stevens & Bolton LLP Senior Associate Grace Parker-White commented:
“There has long been discontent about how ineffectively the courts enforce contact when a relationship breaks down. The frustrations experienced, often by fathers, following a divorce or separation has been well publicised. We often have enquires from concerned grandparents who have lost contact with their grandchildren, even where they may have been a major part of their lives for a number of years. Under the current law grandparents have even less recourse. The proposed change giving them extra recognition with an automatic right of access to their grandchildren will be a welcome relief to many. We must wait to see whether the recent change of Government derails any of these plans”
Grace Parker-White