
How Divorce Affects Grandparents’ Relationships with Grandchildren
On Behalf of Law Offices of Michael A. Robbins | Jan 9, 2019 | Uncategorized |
When a married couple decides to get divorced, we often spend a significant amount of time thinking about how the divorce will affect minor children from the marriage. When we think about kids from a marriage, we typically focus on the children’s psychological and physical well-being, which often relates directly to the kind of relationship the child has with each parent after the divorce and the amount of time that the child spends with each parent. We do not often consider the ways in which divorce can impact a child’s relationship with his or her grandparents. There are many issues that can arise with regard to grandparents and divorce, but we want to focus primarily on the ways in which multiple grandparents-and step-grandparents-result from divorce and can change a family dynamic.
According to a recent article in The New York Times, divorce is resulting in a surge of grandparents, with kids often having half a dozen (or more) grandparents. How do these grandparent relationships affect a family dynamic after divorce?
Why Divorce is Resulting in More Grandparents
When divorce is not a factor in a relationship, children usually have four grandparents. However, as the article highlights, that number simply is not longer the norm and the reason is divorce. The article points out that we often hear about children with six, seven, or even eight grandparents, step-grandparents, and grandparent-equivalents. The rising number of grandparents in a child’s life in unprecendented in our history, and in large part, that rising rate of grandparents is tied to divorce.
According to Deborah Carr, a sociology professor at Boston University, older adults today are experiencing higher rates of divorce than ever before. Moreover, the rates of gray divorce have also increased, which means that older adults are getting divorced-and remarried-in unprecedented numbers. A recent study published in the Journals of Gerontology reported that approximately 20% of grandparents over the age of 51 have at least one step-grandchild, while many of those people have more than one step-grandchild.
Yet grandparents getting divorced and remarried is not the only path to having step-grandparents. Many people become step-grandparents when their adult children marry people with children and themselves become stepparents.
Effects of More Grandparents After Divorce
In theory, it should be positive that divorce results in more grandparents since this means more love and support all around. But are more grandparents always good for kids and for the family structure more generally?
As some researchers have argued, step-relationships simply are often not as strong as biological relationships tend to be, which can be detrimental. Furthermore, grandparent conflicts can occur with the parents after a divorce, which can lead to immense hardship for children. At the same time, having grandchildren and step-grandparents in the picture can, in some cases, help begin rebuilding family connections after divorce.
A Michigan Divorce Attorney can Help
If you need assistance filing for divorce or have concerns about the implications of your family’s changes, you should speak with a Michigan divorce attorney about your case. Contact the Law Offices of Michael A. Robbins today.
Recent Posts
Archives
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
Categories
RSS Feed
Let us help you

Contact The Firm
3910 Telegraph Road
Suite 200
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302
Phone: 248-646-7980
Fax: 248-646-7989