Italy’s Supreme Court ruled this week that grandchildren are not obliged to live with their grandparents and other family members if they don’t want to. The decision is the response to a case that dragged on for years in lower courts and stemmed from an appeal by the parents of two children against Milan courts.
In 2019, after a lawsuit initiated by the grandparents and a paternal uncle, the court imposed periodic meetings between children and family members, on the grounds that the deprivation of this relationship could cause psychological damage to young people. The meetings were accompanied by a social worker.
According to the parents, the two children did not like contact with their grandparents, mainly because there were tensions and conflicts in the family. Initially, the Milan court (first instance), which organized the meetings, had established that the paternal grandmother would need to prove that she was undergoing psychiatric treatment —the woman, unidentified, had an aggressive attitude towards the children’s parents, which was noted by the grandchildren.
The case, however, went to the Milanese Court of Appeal (second instance), where the judges ruled that it made no sense to indicate treatment for the grandmother, since she would not be “aware of her own condition of psychic discomfort”. In addition, the court highlighted what it called “psychic damage” from the deprivation of the relationship and indicated therapeutic follow-up for the whole family.
The understanding of the Supreme Court (third and final instance) was different. For the collegiate, although young people can benefit from the relationship with relatives, it cannot be mandatory and should not happen in a conflicting environment, even more so in the face of opposition from children. That is, their will and interests must prevail over those of their relatives.
In Italy, grandparents have the right to take legal action against obstacles to the coexistence of their grandchildren’s parents. In these cases, it is up to the courts to assess whether the restrictions do any harm to the well-being of children, which would make them illegal.
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