With an ageing society, hundreds of Jamaicans are becoming grandparents every year. However, for many, it will not just be a walk in the park holding hands with the grandchildren.

The Maintenance Act, 2005 (hereinafter called "the Act") has placed serious obligations on grandparents to maintain their grandchildren, but subject to certain circumstances.

The obligation of grandparents to maintain their grandchild is imposed by section 8(2) of the Act, which provides that every grandparent has an obligation, to the extent that the grandparent is capable of doing so, to maintain the grandparent's unmarried child who is a minor or who is in need of such maintenance, by reason of physical or mental infirmity or disability in the event of the failure of the grandchild's parents to do so owing to death, physical or mental infirmity or disability.

Under the Act, a child who is a minor is a person under the age of 18 years old.

It must be noted that the grandparents' obligation to maintain the grandchild is conditional as outlined above, thus it is the parents who have the first duty to maintain their own children.

Application

Anyone closely connected to the grandchild can make the application against the grandparents to any Resident Magistrate's court for the parish in which the grandchild resides or to the Family Court.

In considering any application for the grandparents to maintain a grandchild, the court will have resort to section 14(4) of the Act in order to determine the amount and duration of the maintenance. The court will, among other things, examine the means and assets of the grandparents, their ability to support themselves, any legal and other obligations to provide support for others, contributions made by other persons to maintain the grandchild and any other factor that might be necessary for the court to consider.

Maintenance order

The resident magistrate having heard the matter, may make a maintenance order requiring the grandparents to pay a certain amount for a particular duration. The order could also specify that payment be made to the Collecting Officer attached to the court's office, the parent or the person who has the care and custody of the child, a local authority, government agency or anyone else the court deems fit.

One should bear in mind that the maintenance of a child of any age can be very costly. With that said, it may be prudent for parents to have a word with their children when they observe that their children are having children without the requisite income or the ability to maintain them.

Keith N. Bishop is an attorney-at-Law and senior partner in the firm of Bishop & Partners. He may be contacted at knbishop@gmail.com