Visiting of children with grandparents

The court has determined the time intervals during which the child’s father has the right to have contact with the child; in that case, you are not obliged to hand the child over to another person. However, in this case, it is necessary to take into account the interest of the minor children in meeting with their grandparents as well. The best interest of the child is enshrined in Art. 5 of Act No. 36/2005 Coll., the Family Act:

The interest of a minor child is the primary consideration in decision-making in all matters concerning the child. When determining and assessing the interest of a minor child, the following is taken into account in particular:

• the level of care for the child

• the safety of the child, as well as the safety and stability of the environment in which the child resides

• the protection of the dignity, as well as the mental, physical, and emotional development of the child

• circumstances related to the health status of the child or the child’s disability

• the threat to the child’s development by interventions into their dignity and the threat to the child’s development by interventions into the mental, physical, and emotional integrity of a person who is a person close to the child

• conditions for preserving the child’s identity and for the development of the child’s abilities and talents

• the child’s opinion and their possible exposure to a conflict of loyalty and a subsequent sense of guilt

• conditions for the creation and development of relational bonds with both parents, siblings, and other close persons

• the use of possible means to preserve the child’s family environment if an intervention into parental rights and duties is being considered

Since the father could not meet with his child in the determined time interval for justified reasons, you do not have to give him an alternative date. We recommend that you mutually agree on meetings if it is not possible to meet during the time intervals determined by the court.

Contact of grandparents with grandchildren

The issue of contact between grandparents and their grandchildren is not separately regulated in Act No. 36/2005 Coll., the Family Act (hereinafter “FA” [Note: the Slovak text incorrectly says Labor Code/Zákonník práce]). However, the regulation of a child’s contact with their grandparents may come into consideration, for example, in the event that the parents of a minor child who do not live together do not agree on how they will exercise their parental rights and duties. In such a situation, the court shall regulate their parental rights and duties even without a motion (Section 36, Paragraph 1 FA). The paraphrased provision further states that: “If it is necessary in the interest of the minor child and if the family circumstances require it, the court may regulate the child’s contact with close persons as well.” Basically, the same applies to the regulation of parental rights and duties after a divorce (Section 25, Paragraph 5 FA). A close person is understood to be, for example, a relative in a direct line (grandparent), a sibling, or a spouse (Section 116 of the Civil Code).

The absence of a legal framework for regulating contact between grandparents and their grandchildren suggests that the law leaves this area fully “under the direction” of the parents as the legal representatives of the minor child, who have the primary and decisive role in its upbringing (Section 30, Paragraph 1 FA).