Can my family take me to court to see my children

Grandparents have no legal right to access to their grandchildren. Stop worrying and focus on being a parent.
My advice........come off social media completely; stop posting anything that you don't want family to see. The friends you really care about will understand your motives for doing this and it will prevent your estranged relatives from seeing things you want kept private.

No. They can take you to court if they like but they won't get anywhere with it. The only way they would be granted contact is if they already had a close relationship with the children and it was considered in the children's best interests to preserve it.

As a precaution, I would inform the school or any activity the kids go to alone that your relatives do not have your permission to collect etc

I agree. The majority of times when people say "see you in court", they haven't got a clue about what's involved in bringing a case, including the costs if they're not eligible for Civil Legal Aid 😂.

Agree with all the others saying don’t even acknowledge or respond to this. And distance yourself from the third party messenger

They’re just trying to frighten and bully you. The very second they discover that taking someone to court isn’t free, it will all go away. Don’t reply to them, because they’ll only learn that they can provoke a response from you if they push hard enough. I’d also be inclined to block your ‘friend’, just in case she’s been fed a load of old flannel by your family.

I might also be inclined to speak to the children’s schools, nurseries etc and ask that an extra eye be kept on them when they’re in the playground, just to make sure no strange women are hanging about trying to talk to them. They won’t be the only children in that sort of situation so the school won’t judge you or demand details beyond there being no contact. I’m sure they’ll never know what they look like or what school they go to, but I’m a big fan of being prepared for the worst case scenario.

What everyone else has said.

I looked into it when kids were young as IL went on strop and kept on about their rights - even DH had enough especially when MIl started telling eveyone she was breaking us up and would "get" the kids even though they lived in another bit of the UK.

I don't know if they just read round their "rights" - as we did - or paid for advice or just got over the strop but something shifted and grandparent rights never got mentioned again ever and they started to be easier to deal with.

So with no contact at all hard to see how they could prove it was in your kids interest so they won't get far- so best advice block the friend and keep them blocked.

Grandparents have no automatic right to see their grandchildren in the UK OP. However, if you can't make an informal agreement through mediation (which I'm sure you wouldn't want to do) they can ask for permission ("leave") from the family court to request a Child Arrangements Order and if granted permission, they can then make an application to the court for the order. You can find out more information about it here: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/what-rights-do-grandparents-have-to-see-their-grandchildren/

I think ‘we’ll take you to court’ is often a meaningless threat, thrown around and meant to scare the other party.

In reality, they will find out that they need to actually take action, seek advice and pay for that advice, without any surety that they will get what they want.

I bet a high proportion of people never get past the initial threat.

Ignore and let them start their legal process.

( in your case safe in the knowledge that they won't ‘win’)

They're trying to scare you by making these empty threats. Noooo way would they win any court case for this nonsense.

They have no legal right to see your children.

They sound absolutely batshit. Block delete ignore.

If your family want to waste countless thousands of pounds on completely failing to have any rights over your children, my advice is to let them. The only winner will be their lawyer.

Block the "friend" and ignore such nonsense. The grandparents and aunts and uncles do not have rights to a relationship with children they have never met.

No.

Block that non friend.
Of course these strangers to your children, but related to you, have no right to meet your children.

Block this trouble maker.
Call Womens aid for advice and support if you need to chat.

Your mum and sister are playing games and trying to rattle you. Do not engage in any way whatsoever. The old friend/messenger is one of those arseholes who loves to insert themselves in other people’s dramas in the guise of a mediator/concerned friend. I guarantee she’s the one who was gossiping to them about you in the first place. Block her from your SM and let her know you don’t want any more messages from the family.

Totally ignore, breathe and carry on enjoying the lovely life you have built with your own lovely family unit.

I would block the "friend".

They won't be get anywhere and I suspect they are trying to get a reaction from you.

I'd continue keeping your socials private and don't get blackmailed into any contact with them.

I'd be sorely tempted to reply to the flying monkey w.a long string of laughing emoji's but I would actually just block her. She just showed herself to be a very unsafe person.

And I think the other replies are correct, they can try to take you to court but they'll lose their money on the effort. I suspect they're just trying to get under your skin, you won't let them!

Seems like they've just proven once again WHY you felt the need to go NC.

They're trying to scare you, they're trying to create drama. They've invented a scenario in their heads where they are the victims.

Family courts are there to serve the best interests of the child. Not to satisfy horrible people who just want to cause trouble.

They have no chance, ignore and block the friend. If you wanted a good source of advice, try this childlawadvice.org.uk

I have no idea if that will link!!

Ignore all requests and keep no contact. They have threatened court in a hope to scare you in to giving in.

One of my parents got a friend to pretend to be a solicitor and ring my in laws to find out about my kids. They told them 😡. Paid out a lot of money to find out they couldn't do anything and wouldn't win in court. Not a chance in hell would they have got near my kids and they are all adults now so it is not a worry. When the parent dies I'll be raising a glass as I can relax then.

The third party would be cut out of my life immediately.

Block the “friend” and lock your SM down or come off completely.

They have no rights. Let them waste their money.

@godfreyfour I wouldnt put it past this "old friend" to have told them where you live!

A judge in a family court functions to make decisions based on what's in the best interests of any children in the case. They aren't concerned with the rights of adults in relation to children. Based on what you say, it's vanishingly unlikely that a judge would consider that your children would benefit from contact with your family.

If you've been estranged from your family for a very long time, they may not realise how much you've changed, especially if they are themselves stuck with the circumstances and characters that drove you away. Hence this attempt to push you into doing what they want; it may be that more detailed advice from MN legal will give you some additional reassurance but I hope that what's been said here will help to start with.

The grandparents rights law that some refer to is to protect grandparents like mine (and children like I was) who play a major role in their grandchild's life, in my case full time care for several years before my parents tried to take me back. If my parents had been successful that law would have protected my relationship with my grandparents.

It's not for strangers who happen to be related to get access to kids they've never met.

A few months ago I saw a thread about a GF who tried to go to court to see the kids never taking much of an interest before. It was merely him trying to exert some panic and control, plus he lost. GPs don't have automatic right in E&W. It's different if the child(ren) are deemed to be at risk but otherwise, it will probably get thrown out.

Ignore them OP. They can create all the drama they want to, it won't get them anywhere.