I am being prevented from seeing my grandchild. What can I do?

For many families, the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren is one of the most meaningful bonds within family life, contributing to a child's identity formation and fostering the transmission of affection, values, and family heritage across generations. However, marital breakdown, family disputes, or simply a deterioration in the relationship between parents and grandparents may result in the total or partial loss of that contact.

Portuguese law addresses this issue through Article 1887-A of the Civil Code, which provides that "parents may not unjustifiably deprive their children of contact with their siblings and ascendants."

Accordingly, the child's right to maintain contact with their ascendants is legally recognised. In parallel, Portuguese case law has consistently affirmed the existence of a genuine subjective right of grandparents to maintain direct and personal relationships with their grandchildren.

How can grandparents enforce this right?

When dialogue with the child's parents is insufficient to restore contact, grandparents may resort to the courts through guardianship proceedings (common guardianship proceedings), within which the court may establish a visitation or contact regime between grandparents and grandchildren.

In certain circumstances, the issue of contact with grandparents may also be examined within ongoing parental responsibility proceedings between the parents. In such cases, the court may be asked to define a contact arrangement aimed at safeguarding the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren, following a careful assessment of the specific circumstances involved.