Do Grandparents Have Rights to Visitation or Custody?
Grandparents are important to a child’s life. They pass down family history and instill life lessons that the children will hold on to for the rest of their lives. Grandparents provide patience, stability, wisdom, support, acceptance, and fun. When a divorce happens, grandparents can also be affected.
Under the Georgia code (O.C.G.A 19-7-3), grandparents may file a petition seeking visitation in any custody action, including cases involving divorce, termination of parental rights, and adoption. There are guidelines with the code and they include:
- Age and health of child and grandparents
- Locations and distances between residences
- Previous, established relationship between grandparents and the child/children
- Ability of the grandparents to meet the child’s physical, emotional, and developmental needs
There are many reasons why grandparent visitation issues may arise. These can include a parent denying visitation after a grandparent fights with their child, a parent denying visitation after returning from a long period of absence during which the grandparents may have taken on roles as guardians or custodians of the child, or situations when the parent dies or goes to jail and the in law denies visitation to grandparents.
However, grandparents getting visitation can be tough. In order to get visitation, the grandchildren’s parents must have a “severed relationship”. The court will look at situation from the grandchild’s point of view. They will look at the history and the connection the grandparents and grandchild/children have.
There will be questions that the court will ask before rewarding any visitation rights. These questions will include; How much contact have you had with your grandchildren? How recent was the contact? How old are your grandchildren? What are your grandchildren’s wishes? What is the nature of your bond, relationship, or contact? Is there any evidence of harm to your grandchildren from lack of contact? There will be a lot of research done to make sure the best decision is made for the grandchild/children.
Another right a grandparent has is to seek custody. Third party custody really only takes place when a child is in a harmful situation. As a grandparent if you want to obtain custody there must be a clear reason shown. This can include the child has an unfit parent who is not caring for them properly, the parent has given up their role, there is a very strong bond or connection that exists between you and the grandchild, and if the child would be physically, medically, or emotionally harmed if returned to the parent, or if there is evidence of physical and/or psychological harm to the children from the parent. These are a few ways a grandparent could get custody of a grandchild.
If you have questions about grandparents visitation or custody, contact one of our experienced attorneys at 770-422-4241.