Can a Grandparent Get Contact With a Grandchild in British Columbia?

Being cut off from a grandchild is painful, and it often follows a separation, a family dispute or a death. Many grandparents want to know whether the law gives them any right to see the child.

In British Columbia, the Family Law Act does give you a way to ask. It is not automatic, and the court focuses on the child rather than on the adults. This article explains the basic steps and what a court looks at.

This article covers the law of British Columbia.

Why the law calls it contact, not access

The Family Law Act replaced the old ideas of custody and access with guardianship, parental responsibilities, parenting time and contact. Parenting time is time with a guardian, while contact is time with a person who is not a guardian.

Contact means contact between a child and a person other than the child's guardian, on the terms in an agreement or order. Only a guardian may have parental responsibilities and parenting time. So a grandparent who is not a guardian does not make decisions for the child. A grandparent's goal is usually a set schedule of time together.

Applying for a contact order

A non-guardian, such as a grandparent, may be granted contact by a court order under section 59. The court sets the terms and form of the contact, and can require supervision if that is in the child's best interests.

A contact order is not necessarily permanent. It can be changed, suspended or terminated if the child's needs or circumstances have changed.

How a court decides

In an agreement or order about guardianship, parenting arrangements or contact, the parties and the court must consider the best interests of the child only. The factors include:

• the child's health and emotional well-being
• the child's views, unless it would be inappropriate to consider them
• the nature and strength of the child's relationships with significant people
• the history of the child's care and the child's need for stability
• the impact of any family violence on the child's safety, security or well-being

An order is not in the child's best interests unless it protects, to the greatest extent possible, the child's physical, psychological and emotional safety, security and well-being. A court may consider a person's conduct only if it substantially affects one of those factors, and only to the extent of that effect.

The Act sets no age at which a child chooses. The child's views are one factor, weighed with the others. A court can also appoint someone to assess the child's needs or views, and it can appoint a lawyer for the child in some high-conflict cases.

Agreements and other routes

You do not always need a court. Contact can be set by agreement between a guardian and a non-guardian, but the agreement is binding only if it is made by all the guardians who decide with whom the child associates. A calm conversation, or a mediator, may be worth trying first.

If you want a fuller role, you can apply under section 51 to be appointed a guardian. A person who is not a parent cannot become a guardian by agreement, so a court order is needed. You must give the court details about your plans for the child's care and your own history. If the child is 12 or older, the appointment needs the child's written approval unless the court is satisfied it is in the child's best interests. You may apply for a parenting order at the same time. Whether this route suits your situation depends on the facts, so it is worth talking it through with a lawyer.

What to do next

• Write down the history: when you saw the child, how often, and what changed.
• Keep copies of messages and records that show your relationship with the child.
• Consider whether an agreement with the child's guardians is realistic before filing.
• In Provincial Court, an application about a family law matter is made on Form 3. In Supreme Court, a family case starts with a Notice of Family Claim, Form F3.
• Check whether you must complete a Parenting After Separation course before the first court date in Provincial Court.

A lawyer can tell you which court and which kind of order fits your circumstances.

Frequently asked questions