We wish to know our rights to contact our grandchild who has been moved 700km away and mother has breached parenting

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Customer: Hello. We wish to know our rights to contact our grandchild who has been moved 700km away and mother has breached parenting orders of nsw local court
JA: What steps have your grandchild and the mother taken? Has she filed any papers in New South Wales family court?
Customer: My young son and his partner had a child and they lived with us on and off for the first 2 years of our granddaughter's life. My son and his partner split. They both signed Parenting Orders and Consent Orders with my son having rights to see his daughter every second weekend, half of the school holidays etc. As our son lives with us, we all were able to see our granddaughter and even though there were tense times, we always saw our granddaughter more than the scheduled time.The daughter in law had another partner, with whom she has a son. He managed to get hold of his son when she breached the Parenting Orders that he had with her and now I think because she had moved, and has lost permanent custody of her son, she has cut off all communication for us with our granddaughter and similarly with our son.
JA: Have they talked to a lawyer about this yet?
Customer: My son has. his ex partner makes her own rules and tells the lawyers that she has moved for her health and to be near family etc.. I think all of the to-ing and fro-ing with the lawyer and the tormenting broken promises from his ex are too much for my son. I want to know our rights.
JA: Is there anything else the Lawyer should know before I connect you? Rest assured that they'll be able to help you.
Customer: Just that this is about me and my husband wanting to know if we have rights to take her to Court and have access to our granddaughter. At the moment we have been cutoff completely for the past 6 and one half months.
Answered by John Melis in 5 mins 1 year ago
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John Melis
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John Melis, Expert

Hi! You’re speaking with John Melis, a solicitor in Australia.

​Grandparents are entitled to apply for parenting orders under s 65C of the Family Law Act, which provides:

Whilst grandparents specifically have standing to make an application under the Family Law Act; it does not automatically mean orders will be granted.

As with any parenting order, the court will always consider an application by the grandparents through the prism of what is in the child’s best interests.

You may start the process with mediation through relationships Australia.

The alternative is to commence proceedings in the family court.

Customer
I know that the other party will not be very responsive. What are the processes to commence proceedings? I assume that we will have to attempt mediation - which I have no doubt will be to no avail as our grandchild absolutely oves us and I gather that that is the reason why we have been cut off from communication- so that we will not upset our granddaughter.
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John Melis, Expert

You may commence proceedings in the family court.You can run the case yourself.The family court has a do it yourself kit which you can then complete the initiating application.Just follow the instructions on the application form.To obtain a copy of the application, go to the family court website and select forms.Once you complete the application, file the same with the court and the other party.
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John Melis, Expert

I hope this message finds you are well.

Just recapping your circumstance, as grandparents you have a right to communicate with your grandchildren. If you cannot resolve this matter amicably with the parents, you could commence proceedings in the family court. However, I would recommend that you do attempt to mediation.

It was my pleasure to you today, and I thank you for chatting with me. If any part of my response is unclear, please let me know. It’s my goal to deliver excellent service, so please let me know if there is anything more I can do. Thank you for using our site.

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