Grand parents rights

[helskels]

My friend has a 6yr old GD who is being brought up by her maternal GM. My friend has looked after the child every couple of weeks for days out and sleep overs since birth.
For some unknown reason the GM has told my friend she can only have the GD every 6wks ( this is the legal time for GP)for 2hrs and that is to take her to her activities and then she must return with the child.
My friend is unsure why this has happened as there has been no explanation.
My question is can the GM who is the legal guardian,dictate how the child spends time with my friend?

If she is the legal guardian then yes she can, in the same way that a parent could.

There is no such thing as 'grandparents rights'

no such thing as gp rights lol.

although pushy gp`s do like to think so!

In the UK there are no such things as ‘grandparents rights’ (except in cases, where like her other GM, she is the legal guardian or has parental responsibility or whatever the term would be). Just like a parent can decide how much their child spends with a family member, so can her other GM as she has been given responsibility to make decisions for this child.

It sounds like the child has had a pretty rough time of it if neither of her parents are parenting her. Where is her son/daughter (parent of the child)? Are they still alive? One option would be for the parent to become involved again (if it’s safe for them to do so) and then they could facilitate the child having more of a relationship with that side of their family.

Your friend doesn't have any rights but she can apply to the court for access rights if she can show she has a meaningful relationship with her GC which would negatively impact the child should this access be limited.

op your post is also confusing . are you trying to say your friend is gm? and she has been doing overnight/daycare of gc? is your friend the gm with parental guardianship (full legal)?

if gm is not a legal guardian and just a gm, then she has no "rights" in the uk. there are special circumstances but its an expensive thing. as gm she`d have to apply to a court to apply for contact. thats the beginning.

So to be clear the Grandmother is the legal guardian?

If the 'legal time' you refer to has been spelled out in a court order, then yes the Grandmother is correct. If there is no such court order, as legal guardian I think its up to the Grandmother to determine when your friend (a fellow grandparent) can/cannot see her. I agree that 2 hours every 6 weeks is awful! But not sure what else your friend can do if legal guardian isn't interested in arranging more regular contact.

many gp`s have the mistaken belief that they have a "right" to their gc.

also silly bints like ester ranzten fill their heads with rights nonsence lol

Given that this arrangement has been going on for years, I would think your friend hasn't been entirely honest about the situation with you.

Unless guardianship has been granted, or there is a history of heavy involvement and courts think it would be detrimental for the child not to see the grandparent (although this would involve an expensive court case) grandparents, rightly, dont have any rights.

Your friend is getting a couple of hours every 6 weeks, I would advise her to go with that, and try and build up the relationship with the other grandparent again. Something must have happened.

In short -yes she can.

GP rights are not a thing.

your friend could apply for court ordered access i guess. Not sure how successful these applications are?

Where did she get the info of 2hrs every 6 weeks from? This isn't a law I have heard of.,

No, this isn't anything to do with grandparent's rights.

This woman isn't the grandparent now, she's the legal guardian. She may be granny but she has parental responsibility. So yes, it's up to her.

However, it's not quite the same as being a parent - if your friend is unhappy with this, her main option would be looking into regaining parental responsibility which as I understand it, if the grandparent hasn't legally adopted the child, is possible?

It would depend on the circumstances etc.

What I would say is that unless there are major issues such as abuse, substance abuse etc then the grandparent sounds as if she's not doing the best by her granddaughter at all, to try and prevent a relationship with the mother. In that case, talkign to social services may also help (presumably guardianship done through them). If contact is recommended and the grandmother is hindering it, they'd want to know that.

@FizzyGreenWater I think OPs friend is the other grandparent.

Oh gosh yes! Thanks whiskey, I totally misread that.

OP, in this situation - where it's a guardian limiting contact like this and not a parent - it might be worth contacting social services who may indeed be willing to advise the guardian that it is in the child's interest to support close relationships with the other grandparents? Unlike where it's the parents deciding, SS have a vested interest.