Grandparents’ Visitation Rights

A child’s parent or guardian has the right and responsibility to decide who the child spends time with. Grandparents do not always have a right to see their grandchild. If a parent with custody of a child does not want a grandparent to visit, the court will rarely interfere.

A court will issue an order for grandparent visitation only if there is or has been a custody or visitation case in court and:

1. the parent or parents of the child agree to grandparent visitation, or
2. the court finds that grandparent visitation would be in the best interests of the child, or
3. the grandparent can prove the parent is deceased, has abandoned the child, is unable to make a decision, or is found to be unfit.

If your grandchild’s parents are getting divorced and you are afraid that you won’t be able to visit your grandchild anymore, talk to the parents. Let them know you would like to continue visiting the grandchild on a regular basis. Try to come to an agreement with the parents.

If you reach an agreement, ask the parents or guardian to include this agreement for regular visitation with the court order for custody and visitation.

If you cannot come to an agreement with the parents, you can ask the court to order grandparent visitation as part of the custody and visitation order. The court will respect the wishes of the parent of the child unless there are very unusual circumstances, such as when a parent is unfit.

Usually the court considers custody and visitation as part of a divorce or parentage case. In these cases, custody is called “parental rights and responsibilities” and visitation is called “parent-child contact.” See our page on Child Custody and Visitation for more information.

You must ask the court in writing for visitation rights. Send a copy of your request to each parent. A lawyer can help you do this.

The court will respect the wishes of the parent of the child unless there are very unusual circumstances, such as when a parent is unfit. The court considers the following factors to determine whether visitation with a grandparent is in the best interest of the child. You should include these items in your written request for visitation to the court:

1. your ability to love, care and give guidance to your grandchild
2. the relationship between you and the child and whether it would be good for the grandchild to maintain the relationship
3. the moral fitness of the parents and grandparent
4. the mental and physical health of the parent and grandparent
5. the reasonable preference of the child, if the court determines that the child is old enough to express a preference
6. your willingness and ability to facilitate and encourage a close and continuing relationship between the child and the parents
7. any other factor which the court considers to be relevant to a just determination regarding visitation or contact

If you want a court order for grandparent visitation over the parent’s objections, you must show the court that the parent’s actions are physically or mentally affecting the child’s growth and development. The parent’s actions must amount to abuse or neglect of the child. This is very hard to prove.

In addition to showing the parent is unfit, the grandparent needs to show that visitation is in the best interests of the child.

It is not enough to show that the child is unhappy, or the child would like to visit you. It is also not enough to show that the parent is a bad parent. There must be compelling evidence that shows the child will suffer harm if the visitation request is not granted.

If you have a visitation order, but your grandchild’s parent or guardian will still not let you see your grandchild, you may ask the court to enforce the court order. There will be a hearing. Provide notice of the hearing to the parent or guardian of the child. You may contact a lawyer to help with this process.