There are many stories of grandparents being denied visitation with their grandchildren. The brutal facts are that constitutionally the grandparents do not have any rights when it comes to visitation with grandchildren. Then you have the fact that laws on grandparents rights vary from one state to another and the situation can get very confusing. Most people will agree that the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren is very important to both parties. The problem is that the law does not see things in the same light. If a parent wants to deny visitation to a grandparent the grandparent can file for visitation rights but the chance of winning is slim unless there are extenuating circumstances.
So many different situations can arise where a grandparent can lose visitation rights that every case turns out to be different. Some of the things that can happen are divorce, the death of one or both parents, military service and other situations. The outcome of the case has many variables. The state the case is in, the wishes of any living parents, the relationship the grandparents had with the child prior to the situation, the health, age and finances of the grandparent, and whether the natural parent is fit to raise a child just to name a few. In general, though it is very difficult to get a court to rule against the child’s natural parents if one or both of them are still living. If you are serious about getting your grandparents rights, you may be in for a battle if the parents object.
When attempting to get grandparents rights you will have to prove to the court that not having you in the child’s life is detrimental to the child’s welfare. You may need to turn to the tactic of trying to prove that one or both of the parents are unfit parents. This is a hard task unless you have documented proof such as police reports, or reports from child protective services. Even at this the task is not easy and do not forget that one of the parents you are bringing evidence against is your own child. These types of cases have to be handled carefully in order to keep from ripping a family apart. Because even if you win you may be doing more damage to the child then you intended. Remember that the only concern of the court is going to be what is best for the child in question.
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