Grandparents raising grandchildren should consider their situation and their rights

The number of children being raised by their grandparents has risen sharply since the start of the recession in 2007, according to a Pew Research Center study that found one in 10 children in the US now lives with a grandparent.

Many people have a lot of questions when it comes to grandparents custody and the consideration of grandparents rights who are caring for their grandchildren. According to the Pew study, almost two-thirds of the grandparents who are primarily responsible for their grandchildren are under 60. In the 2000 Census, the average age was 57.

Grandparents who are actually caring for their grandchildren should take affirmative steps to protect their rights. This can often be done by obtaining legal guardianship over the grandchildren, or by actually obtaining an order of custody.

Absent a formal legal grant of rights, grandparents may find it much more difficult to preserve their relationship with their grandchildren, or to protect their grandchildren from being restored to the custody of a parent who is not ready to assume responsibility for them.

For example, grandparents may care for grandchildren while a parent goes through rehabilitation for a drug addiction, and have legitimate concern that the parent has relapsed, but without a legal grant of custody or guardianship be without any power to prevent the parent from taking the grandchildren out of their care.

I often get emails from grandparents who are looking for helpful legal information in regard to raising their grandchildren.

If you have have other questions about grandparents custody one resource you can check out is my book No Greater Loss which goes into detail about these situations, as well as many other aspects of grandparents rights.