In today’s society more than half of all marriages end in divorce. This creates problems and challenges for the immediate family unit but also for the extended family when it comes to grandparents visitation rights. Depending on the atmosphere surrounding the separation and divorce this could cause tremendous anxiety and even alienation. This could leave the grandparents out in the cold. This is an especially difficult time when there are children involved. The children feel great sadness because often they somehow feel like they are to blame. When a divorce happens, the courts have to decide who gets custody of the children. The grandparents at times get no visitation rights to see their grandchildren even though they are an important part of the lives of the children. In today’s world many grandparents choose to go through the courts to get visitation rights. This is called grandparent rights legislation and is accomplished state by state. There are no such federal laws and you will not find these rights in the constitution. Under the grandparents rights in the state where the child resides it is possible the grandparents may be given the right to visitation. The grandparents are sometimes not guaranteed visitation because of specific reasons. Each situation is different so it all depends on the specific laws of that state.
The courts are very careful to invoke every tool at their disposal to ensure that the best interest of the child is served. If the case warrants it these may include a comprehensive custody evaluation of the parents, grandparents and or any potential care givers..
When the parents of a child divorce and the grandparents have the possibility of losing their rights to see their grandchildren steps need to be taken to assure that there is an ongoing relationship between them and their grandchildren. Grandparents should be there during a divorce not only to give the parents support but also for the children. This is important for the grandparents to have access to being with their grandchildren. There are certain cases when abuse is involved and this is especially when the grandparents should do everything in their power be there to make sure that they have close ongoing access to their grandchildren, create a sense of security and provide a feeling of continuity.
Grandparents should have visitation rights with grandchildren in most cases. After all grandparents are some of the closest people in their lives and can bring security, love and the feeling of being safe to their grandchildren. All children deserve to have a close bond with their family members. Just because there is a divorce, the parents should not hold that against other family members. They need to think about their children and what is best for them, which is being with the ones that they love and people who care for them. Visitation rights for grandparents are very important for families to be able to stay together no matter what the situation.
There is really only one yardstick in all of the cases. it is the best interest of the child and in every court case I have read, the courts do a wonderful job of keeping this principal front and center.
