Grandparents’ rights can be considered the right to take legal action to ask for custody or visitation with grandchildren. Courts generally only give grandparents custody of their grandchildren when the parents are unfit. Unfitness as a parent can be related to the parents being a drug addict, being incarcerated, having no relationship with their children and in cases where the parent has being abusive or neglectful of the children.
Best Interest Of The Children
The best interest of the children is a doctrine that holds the custody of the children should be awarded only after taking into consideration by the Court what is in the children’s best interest. This simply means the court should do what is the right thing for the children in a given situation.
Grandparents’ Rights To Visitation With Their Grandchildren
In situations where there has been a nasty divorce case or where one of the natural parents dies, issues concerning grandparents’ rights can come into play. In a case where the natural parent dies and the other parent had not maintained a relationship with the children, grandparents can come into court and ask for custody of the grandchildren. It should be pointed out there is a strong preference by the courts to give custody of the children to the other parent provided the parent is found to be an appropriate resource. In cases where the other parent had been absent for the children’s lives, the courts will usually order a period of increasing visitation to see if this parent is an appropriate resource to raise the children.
About Elliot S. Schlissel
