Only people with parental responsibility can apply for a court order. In the majority of cases, grandparents do not have parental responsibility for their grandchildren. Although grandparents need to ask permission, it is rare for a judge to refuse this. At the hearing, the court will consider things like:
the grandparents’ relationship with the grandchild
if contact with the grandparents would be harmful in any way to the child
if contact between the child and their grandparents would impact negatively on the wider family