Understanding grandparents rights

In the ongoing struggle to understand grandparents rights the battles are often fought at the state level, and more specifically in local magistrate courts as judges decide individual cases based on their interpretation of previous decisions. Resources like those available at The Custody Center can help you narrow down exactly what your state laws are.

There have always been cases where problems exist between parents and grandparents over the right to see and spend time with grandchildren. These days due to social forces there are more cases now than there have ever been before.

The increase in the number of cases where grandparents are seeking court ordered grandparent visitation rights is probably inevitable when one considers the increase in children born out of wedlock, the increase in the divorce rate, an increase in the propensity for a single custodial parent to move to another location, and a general decrease in society’s valuation of grandparent relationships.

There is little uniformity between the laws in states about how to deal with these issues, however, and your rights as a grandparent will vary depending upon what state you live in. Grandparents legal rights statutes are different state tot state but can generally be broken into two large camps of permissive and restrictive states.

Permissive grandparent rights states

More lenient states allow grandparents the right to petition for visitation rights, regardless of whether the parents are together, even if they both object.  Some states allow other family members or even unrelated parties to file such a petition if they can show that they have and will continue to have a strong and vital relationship with the child.

These states lean more towards what is in the best interest of the child rather than the absolute right of the parents to raise a child under the circumstances that they see fit. Keep in mind that it isn’t very easy for an unrelated party to get such a petition granted. That party must show that a continuation of the relationship is in the best interest of the child, not just that it is in the best interest of the adult seeking the petition.

That is where the information available from services like The Custody Center can help you.

Restrictive grandparent rights states

Other states give more credence to the parents’ viewpoint versus grandparents legal rights as to what is in the best interest of the child.  In those states, only grandparents may seek visitation rights and even grandparents may only seek those rights where the parents are not together.

When the parents are together and both parents refuse to grant visitation, these states infer that there are not any relationship difficulties that are causing the rift, and that the parents are jointly acting in the best interest of the child.

In cases where the parents are not together, grandparent are often granted visitation with the grandchildren, though the particular circumstances can vary greatly.

In either case, grandparents that have had little to do with the grandchildren in the past have significantly less chance of being granted court ordered visitation. Grandparents that have had little to do with the grandchild in the past will have a hard time showing that their relationship is vital to the child’s development.

Since a former relationship is strongly considered, you should always seek to build a strong relationship with the grandchild from the beginning.  Coming in and out of the child’s life or taking little initiative to stay in contact with the child could even be viewed as potentially harmful to the child.

Make sure you are aware if you live in a permissive or restrictive state regarding grandparents legal rights. You can find the answers you seek at resources like The Custody Center rather than paying a high priced legal fee for simple answers.

It pays to be informed as to how the courts tend to rule in the state where you live.

NEIL