Taking Grandchildren to Jail - Issues with Mother

[Dee]

I am always let down when I go to take the grandchildren to see their father who is imprisoned in jail. I make arrangements with their mother and when I arrive there is no answer at the door or on the telephone. What grandparents rights do I have as their father has not seen the children in 15 months and has a long way to go?

 

[John R]

Has your grandchildren's mother offered an explanation for missing the arrangements?

 

[Tim W]

I don't do Family Law, but it seems to me that, absent any family law factors,
you (the prisoner's mother) don't have any "rights" in this at all.

It's a well established premise of Family Law that, where possible,
a child has a right to a reasonable relationship with both parents.
That is a right of the child.
Not the parent. And not the grandparent.

If their mother is their principal carer, then where they go (or don't go)
and what they do (or don't do) is pretty much her call.

Their mother may believe, quite reasonably, that the experience of attending the prison
may be distressing, or even traumatic, for them.

It may be that the children don't actually want to go, but their mother is
unable, or unwilling, to say so to your face.

Their mother may, quite reasonably, be unwilling to expose her children
to (other) crims, and/or, dare I say, to the families of other crims.

I am not at all sure that you, as the grandparent, are even on the field of play here.