My son and his defacto have chosen to shut us out of their…

Although grandparents do not have any presumed access rights with regard to children (unlike parents), they are entitled to seek parenting orders (which include orders for access) under the Family Law Act.

Information on the procedure for applying for parenting orders can be found at the Federal Magistrates Court:

http://www.fmc.gov.au/pubs/html/brochures.html

You will need to complete and file an initiating application and attach an affidavit setting out the facts which explain the requirement for the courts orders.

http://www.fmc.gov.au/forms/html/family_law.html

The website has guides to assist unrepresented parties to complete these documents for unrepresented parties, however, the assistance of a family lawyer is strongly recommended as proper representation will greatly increase your chances of success.

When deciding whether to grant access orders, the court treats the interests of the children as paramount and with that in mind the court will generally consider issues such as:

• The extent and quality of any pre-existing relationship the grandparents may have with the children.
• The benefit to the child of establishing a relationship with its extended family.
• The practicalities of granting access orders (i.e. where the grandparents are geographically remote from the children.

Because you have no pre-existing relationship with the child, you will have difficulty convincing the court that the parents should have to make the child available to you. That said, before you institute legal proceedings you will be required by the court to undertake mediation in order to attempt to resolve your dispute without recourse to the court. Only if this fails will the court intervene.

Mediation may be helpful if your son is willing to take part, if only to help discuss the problem, however, at the end of the day, if he doesn't cooperate, then you will have to proceed through the court.

Only a lawyer fully briefed in your circumstances can give you firm advice as to how best to proceed and your prospects of success in court. My preliminary view though is that court action should really be a last resort as taking legal action against your son may further damage your relationship and make a later reconciliation even less likely.

If you do decide to locate a family lawyer, you can contact the Law Society of WA as they can refer you to a suitable lawyer in your area.

http://www.lawsocietywa.asn.au/

I trust the above assists.

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