Hope For Estranged Grandparents

Even though the courts are never ever going to rule that because the case is about what's best for the children, not estranged parents putting their own children in prison for not wanting a relationship with them

In extreme cases, parents will even be imprisoned for breaking court orders actually Motherofdragons Nonnie is correct.

A parent who fails to comply with contact order for the other parent of their child can be punished with community service, a fine or a short custodial sentence.

Not wishing to appear pedantic here, but that post from Nonnie makes no mention of GP's. She has not said there, that a custodial sentence could be the result of non compliance of an order with a GP.; GP's aren't mentioned at all

That post from Nonnie was talking about an occasion she knows of where the police enforced a contact order in favour of the grandparent (which doesn’t happen either, by the way), and then goes on to say if the parent continues to disregard the order, they can be sent to prison.

I think we can safely assume she was talking about grandparents.

Yes MoD it is scaremongering

1. Estranged children are apparently welcome here.

2. Estranged children are apparently believed and sympathised with here.

So why on earth would grandparents go on and on gleefully for days that estranged children here could go to prison trying to protect children.

I suggest you take it up with gransnet if you think they're scaremongering, dragons

Who wrote that MissA when has a parent ever been imprisoned for this?

What sort of grandparent would go back to court knowing the parent could face custodial sentence?

Definitely not a good one.

I would still quite happily go to prison to protect my minor children. My husband and I would be in rotating court cases and prison sentences. Or we would emigrate.

Not wishing to appear pedantic here, but that post from Nonnie makes no mention of GP's. She has not said there, that a custodial sentence could be the result of non compliance of an order with a GP.; GP's aren't mentioned at all.

An informative post MissA "to prevent hopeless or vexatious applications that are not in the interests of the child" is why GP's must seek the courts leave, as referred too in my post.

That should you would think give some peace and mind to P's who think their own P's may take them to court for contact. Each request is vigorously looked into and if the court suspects the GP's case is hopeless for example, no prior established relationship or vexatious, the case wont get as far as a court room.

It's not rocket science to presume that someone consistently ignoring a court order is in contempt of court, which is an offence

Courts don’t sent the other parent to prison for not complying with a court order. They can, hence that being an option to the court, but in theory, they don’t. It’s doesn’t happen because it is not in the best interests of the child! They would NEVER do it for a grandparent.

It would have to take an extreme case indeed for that to ever happen.

But if you all want to think that a parent will be sent to prison for not following the court order then please show me the relevant case law. Or stop scaremongering!

No idea what you're talking about but...

www.gransnet.com/grandparenting/contact-rights

There it is, in its entirety.

Thanks for the info and clarification MissAdventure.

Very pertinent given the thread title.

Oh sorry, MissA on too.

I'll take things that have never happened for 500 points please Alex!

Chewbacca also jumped on that band wagon, can't remember if anyone else did.

A few estranged grandparents have also said this is a bad idea for the sake of the children, not one other estranged grandparent has picked up on their comment or argued against it.

Interesting.

It's info that is available to grandparents, here on gransnet, backed by a family lawyer.

It's not rocket science to presume that someone consistently ignoring a court order is in contempt of court, which is an offence.

In extreme cases, parents will even be imprisoned for breaking contact orders

Please feel free to cite the relevant case law in support of this.

Here you go Smileless:

Smile if a parent subverts the court order then the police can be called to enforce it. I know of a case where that happened. If they continue to do so it goes back to the court which imposes penalties and if the parent continues it is Contempt of Court which can result in a custodial sentence. Now that really would affect the child!

And she also reiterated it in her post which was deleted yesterday because her claim was not verified. Her link and reference to section B5 is apparently her verification, but the document is simply guidance notes for staff use within a firm which have been published online to help parents complete, without legal representation, an application to the court re residency and contact in cases of seperation/divorce.

Since that is completely irrelevant to what she claims, perhaps she would be good enough to either cite the appropriate case law for us all or to stop scaremongering.

That's from the gransnet info...

Enforcing contact and other legal orders can be a tricky business, but family law courts have several systems in place to make sure they are upheld, including imposition of parenting courses or unpaid work. In extreme cases, parents will even be imprisoned for breaking contact orders.

You may also be entitled to some financial support depending on your legal order and your local authority, but it is advisable that you seek legal advice or consult your local authority before obtaining a legal order.

Despite the fact that there are no automatic rights to see your grandchild, your position as a blood relative will be something that is taken into account as the court ultimately decides the outcome of the case.

The lack of grandparents' rights was discussed by Parliament in May 2018. Both Labour and Conservative MPs said that stories of grandparents' estrangement from their grandchildren was 'heartbreaking'. They called for an amendment to the Children Act, which would give children the right to have a relationship with their extended family members if passed.

However, although the importance of extended family in a child's life has been acknowledged, it has been recommended that Child Arrangement Orders stay in place to "prevent hopeless or vexatious applications that are not in the interests of the child".

I can't see where Nonnie has asserted "that a parent will will be sent to prison for not complying with a contact order issued in favour of a grand parent"; could some point that out to me please?

The only statute that is applicable to GP's and not P's when it comes to a case for contact going to court, is the fact the GP's must ask leave of the court; ie the court's permission to take their case to court. That is the only difference.

In all other aspects, the case of a contact order be it between the child's parents or the child's parent and GP is, I'm pretty certain the same. Based on the one and the most important issue ie what's in the best interests and welfare of the child.

Nonnie why don’t you post the appropriate case law in support of your assertion that a parent will be sent to prison for not complying with a contact order issued in favour of a grandparent.

Please put us all out of our misery. I implore you!

(And if you can’t find it, perhaps you should stop scaremongering!)

Nonnie I suddenly realise that potential harm to children doesn't matter to you because you have been arguing for days that their parents could go to prison.

Nonnie as MoD said, there are no specific laws that relate here which is why there is still a large grandparents rights movement at this time. So no court is going to send anyone to prison over it.

No one said anyone ha. d been shut down! I was accused of not have the skills to understand!

Motherofdragons Wed 24-Jun-20 12:46:14 if you honestly think that section B5 is not current prove it. So simple, I know it is but the onus is now on you to prove I am wrong. Throughout this thread you have treated me as if I am wrong, you have consistently said I don't know the law but not once have you produced any evidence to the contrary of what I have said. I originally posted the text from a standard CAO but someone decided to get it removed so I found it in a legal company's advice. They would be in trouble with the Law Society if they allowed false information to be published. Perhaps you would now provide us all with the current legal standard paragraph.

It is very easy to state that someone is wrong but such statement does not stand up without proof.

PS. I would totally go to prison to protect my minor children from abusers.

Yep, bring it on

If any court saw that I'd rather go to prison than give access to an estranged nged family member, they'd have to be stupid to allow that happen... Which is why it doesn't happen.

Interesting choice of words though.

Why do we need to be shut down?

I haven't been shut down, I haven't been "here". I can pop in quite often because I'm on a mobile phone that's all.