Portuguese courts have been deciding on the legitimacy of grandparents to request the regulation of parental responsibilities regarding contact with their minor grandchildren.
According to the law, parents are prohibited from unjustifiably depriving their children of contact with siblings or ancestors.
This would only be possible if it is proven that the relationship with the grandparents is harmful to the minor.
Parents must therefore provide a just cause to prevent this contact. It is the court that will assess the validity of such arguments. This is a right for the grandchild to have contact with the grandparents, but also a right for the grandparents to have the company of the grandchild. Even in situations where there has been no previous contact between the grandparents and the grandchild, the existence of this right cannot be denied.
It can be said that the minor has the right to know their ancestors, their origins, and to integrate into their family. This "right of the grandparents" refers not only to the right to visit the minor, receive them into their home, establish telephone contact with the grandchild, but also to receive information about various aspects of the grandchild's life.
- In case of conflict between the parents and grandparents, the criterion for granting or denying the right of visitation is the child's best interest – that is, the effect it will have on the child.
- The law establishes the presumption that the relationship between the child and the grandparents is beneficial. The burden of proof to the contrary lies with the parents. For example: psychological disturbances, the child’s opposition to contact with the grandparents, disparaging comments about the parents made by the grandparents in the child’s presence, actions by the grandparents that are against the child’s best interests (punishments, negligence, etc.).
- The judicial decision must take into account:
* The child's will;
* The affection between the child and the grandparents;
* The benefits for the child from contact with the grandparents;
* The effects of cutting off the relationship with the grandparents.
- The decision will attempt to balance:
1. The child's right to be with the grandparents;
2. The grandparents' right to be with the child;
3. The parents' right to avoid undue interference from the grandparents in their family unit.
- The only situations where maintaining a relationship with the grandparents is justified, even against the parents’ wishes, are:
1. The child lived with the grandparents during an important part of their life;
2. The death of one of the parents;
3. Cases of divorce of the parents.
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