Grandparenting in Divorced Families

It is evident in current legal literature that the potentially vital role played by grandparents in the lives of children affected by parental divorce is not given serious consideration in court decisions on the custody, care and control of children since parents are recognized as the only persons with parental authority. The law is slow to intervene with the natural authority accorded to parents over their child. A central issue in this article is this: what place should grandparents occupy when a child is undergoing the trauma of parental divorce? In particular, when a judge adjudicates or conducts mediation in a case where two parents are seeking care and control of a child, should he or she also have regard to, or even seek out more information on the support that the grandparents can give to the child? We present a three-fold argument in this article: (a) the grandparent's role does not inevitably interfere with the rights of natural parents protected by the common law; (b) grandparents can contribute significantly to the well-being of the child when parents face serious crises and/or are unable to perform their normal role obligations; and (c) the court should take on a more inquisitorial role in cases involving children of divorced parents and have regard to the presence of grandparents in determining what is the welfare of the child. We discuss this three-fold argument in the light of findings from studies in several countries with particular attention to the situation in Singapore.