All 50 states currently have some type of grandparent visitation rights statute through which grandparents can ask a court to grant them the legal right to maintain their relationships with their grandchildren. But individual state laws vary greatly when it comes to the crucial details, such as who can visit and under what circumstances.
Resources like The Custody Center can be crucial in figuring out what the grandparents visitation rights laws are specific to YOUR state, as they can provide supplements to the legal material they give you which lets you know the way your state handles these issues. Otherwise, you could spend hundreds of dollars for an attorney to tell you information that is already accessible to you.
Approximately twenty US states have restrictive grandparents visitation rights statutes, meaning that generally grandparents can get a court order for visitation only if the child’s parents are divorcing or if one or both parents have died.
However, other states have more permissive grandparents visitation rights laws that allow courts to consider a visitation request even without the death of a parent or the dissolution of the family, so long as visitation would serve the best interests of the child.
Unfortunately in a restrictive state, even divorced parents who agree about preventing grandparent visitation have the right to keep the grandparents away.
However, restrictive and permissive visitation statutes have been challenged in court by parents who argue that the laws are an infringement on parents’ rights to raise their children as they see fit.
The courts in turn have made contradictory rulings. It is best to know going in where your state stands on the issues of grandparents visitation rights.
Resources:
Senior Today, What are your state’s grandparents visitation rights?
