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Can grandparents from both sides of a blended family be given separate contact schedules?

TSL Written by the Treadstone Law team· Updated August 2026

Yes. There's no rule requiring grandparents from different sides of a family, whether from an original family unit or a newer blended one, to share a single, identical contact arrangement - each grandparent-grandchild relationship is generally assessed on its own facts, and a court or a family's own agreement can set out separate contact schedules that reflect each relationship's own history, the grandparents' locations, and practical scheduling realities, rather than forcing a single uniform approach.

In a blended family with multiple sets of grandparents involved, whether through the child's original family or a parent's new partner's family, separate schedules are actually quite common and often more practical than trying to coordinate everyone into one shared arrangement. Where a formal court order for contact exists for one set of grandparents, that order stands on its own regardless of what informal or separate arrangements exist with another set. If you're trying to set up or adjust multiple contact schedules across a blended family, working with a family lawyer or mediator to design each one around the specific relationship and logistics tends to work better than trying to force consistency across all of them.

Key takeaways

  • Grandparents from different sides of a family don't need identical or coordinated contact schedules.
  • Each grandparent-grandchild relationship is generally assessed and scheduled on its own facts.
  • Separate schedules for multiple sets of grandparents in a blended family are common and often practical.
  • A mediator can help design each schedule around its own relationship rather than forcing one uniform plan.
This is general information, not legal advice. It doesn’t create a lawyer–client relationship, and the rules can change. For advice on your situation, a Treadstone family lawyer can help.
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