Visitation Grandparent

Question: Does a grandparent have visitation rights to his/her grandchild? If there is no evidence that the grandparent is detrimental or abusive to the child, then can a grandparent sue for visitation rights? or does the parent have exclusive authority?

Answer: Much depends on the jurisdiction and the judge hearing the case, The grandparent or anyone else has a right to sue. More and more Grandparent rights are being recognized and there now exist support groups as well Hope this helps

Question: what is fl law regarding a grandchild who is being adopted out? is there grandparent visitation? My dtr had custody revoked by the state of florida, do i still have right to see my grandkids?

Answer: Any relative has a right to visit a child as long as it is allowed by the court without objections from the guardian of the child.

Question: what rights do i have in stopping grandparent visitation? i have full custody of my son reason being because the father turned into a heroin addict an i will not let him near my son AT ALL. an i had his visitation stoped...... so now his mother took me to court an got su

Answer: I know what you are going through my situation is similar-kinda. It depends what state you are in. You need to start looking up dirt on her if you don't want him to go. But if you don't care if he goes you just don't want him around his so called father then ask for supervised visitation and explain why you feel that would be the best thing. In most cases it is hard for a grandparent to get rights. Don't stress about it it will all work out I am sure I know it sucks but do your research!! Good luck.

Question: How often can a grandparent see their grandchild? Visitation rights? I am 8 months pregnant and my M.I.L keeps saying she is going to buy a car seat and take the baby because she has grandparents rights. She is married, homeless and lives in a motel for the past 9 months and has been in several car accidents from falling asleep at the wheel. What kind of visitation rights would she have? I live in California.

Answer: Grandparents have NO rights unless you lose custody of your child. YOU and the other parent have all the rights. Be nice to her about it (for now) and just tell her that you can't be without your baby for the time being. She can come visit when she wants. Smile politely, and then don't answer the door when she shows up.

Question: What are some websites on grandparent visitation rights?

Answer: Your best to gogle it or contact the family court. I don't know The laws in the States, but in Australia, the grandparents have the right to apply for visitation as it is believed every child should be able to see both sets of grandparents.

Question: Can a grandparent get visitation rights if they have had past issues with cps? My mom got in trouble a few years ago for her house being a wreck. she had to have a whole bunch of stuff done to get it up to date and cleaned up. now she's threatening to try and get rights to my kids. we live in indiana, me and my husband are married and our kids weren't born out of wedlock, which i know is a factor in grandparents rights in indiana. so, she has no chance right?

Answer: Grandparents have no rights in Indiana , nor in most States, unless certain criteria is met. I'm not sure of what you are asking. You and your husband are still married, you both live together with your children, not born out of wedlock. There is no factor here for your Mom to ask for rights to your children, unless there is some form of neglect or abuse. I think this is an issue which goes far beyond what you are letting us know--a personal issue with your Mom. If you are choosing not to permit your children to visit , speak or see your Mom--this is between you and your family--but let's try and resolve the issue so your children will not become the middle of battle ground with Mom and yourself.

Question: I received a summons for grandparent visitation and I am writing a response to it, is there a form? I live in Florida and I am agreeing with some of their terms but not all of them. Is there a form I can follow to respond or do I just write a letter and address all items listed. Also do I comment on the lies she said or just say I do not agree to her terms. Thanks

Answer: In other words you are responding to a Stipulation proposal? Name the items you are agreeing with and I have included a basic website you may or may not have seen involving the Florida Grandparents Law and its statutes. I hope that this helps answer your questions..

Question: What is your idea of grandparent visitation rights?

Answer: My view is that a child should have contact with all members of their family unless there is a known problem that would cause a danger to the child. Depends upon the state that you live in if the grandparents have legal rights. I know that where I live, they do.

Question: does a maternial grandparent have visitation rights if one of the parents are deceased? my son is deceased and i give the mother money for my grandaughter, if she refused to let me see her i want to know if i have legal rights.

Answer: In a few states in a few situations. Talk to CYS.

Question: grandparent visitation rights in AR? Me and my husband recently had a falling out with his parents and they have threatened to get grandparent visitation rights for our 8 month old son. we have never denied them of seeing him we said they just call and ask whenever they want to see him, (but she said that she shouldnt have to call and ask). if she does file for grandparents rights i dont want my son having anything to do with her then. i was wondering if she would be able to get visitation rights if we dont want her to have them.

Answer: It would be hard for them to win anything at that age. At 8 months, the baby does no know them from a day-care provider, so they are on incredibly shakey grounds. Tell them if they pursue, they will never have access and see of they are willing to risk it.

Question: Grandparent visitation rights, help for parent? I have read that the longer the grandparent-grandchild relationship, the more likely visitation to grandparent will be granted. If I never let my parent know that I now have a child, will it go against me in court that the grandparent wasn't aware of the grandchild, and therefore was not responsible for trying to make contact or having a relationship? I am completely alienated from one of my parents, we do not speak and actually I never even met or heard from him until I was 14. Do you think there is even a slight chance that he would be able to file for grandparent visitation rights?

Answer: The gist of the ruling mentioned was grandparents who sued for visitation, regarding an already established relationship. The decision that came down was that A FIT PARENT HAS the authority to make decisions for their children, which may include keeping the child from the grandparents. In other words... unless you are UNFIT (by court standards or cps) then the court has no reason to interfere with what you decide. You have parental rights. There are no grandparent rights. Yes, many states had passed laws that grandparents supposedly had the right to a relationship, but based on the Supreme court, those laws were not constitutional. You are under no legal obligation to contact your parents, or inform them of a child. Should you do so?? that is entirely up to you. There ARE grandparents out there that are harmful to children. Trust me on this.. I know of some that are willing to lie to a court, for the sole purpose of destroying a family, for no other reason than spite because they did not get what they wanted. NOT because the parents were unfit. Unfortunately, we still have to show the court that they lied in the first place. Your parent has NO reason to file anything.

Question: Grandparent visitation in California? The grandparent of our child is a bad influence on him. We have been discussing cutting her visitation down because of this. When mentioned she said that she would take us to family court and get legal visitations. I am curious if this would be possible, and if there is a link that could possibly explain the California laws about this. Not married and living in separate homes. He is living with his mom, and I get him on Fridays and Saturdays. If I also agreed to denying her mother visitation would that be in our favor in court? There have been issues with things she has said to him (telling him she loves him more than us, undermining our authority, disregard for rules, ignoring requests to bring him back at certain times, etc.)

Answer: Since you are not married, a court may grant reasonable visitation rights to a grandparent if the court does both of the following: (1) Finds that there is a preexisting relationship between the grandparent and the grandchild that has engendered a bond such that visitation is in the best interest of the child. (2) Balances the interest of the child in having visitation with the grandparent against the right of the parents to exercise their parental authority. There is a rebuttable presumption that the visitation of a grandparent is not in the best interest of a minor child if the natural or adoptive parents agree that the grandparent should not be granted visitation rights. So the grandparent can petition the court for visitation rights, but if both you and the child's mother tell the court that you do not want the grandparent to have visitation rights, the court must make the presumption that visitation is not in the best interest of your child. The grandparent would have the opportunity to argue otherwise. If the grandparent does file a petition with the court, be prepared to testify to the grandparent's words and acts that have created a negative influence on your child. Especially since the two of you are united against visitation, it will make it difficult for the grandparent to win a court-ordered right to visitation. If you are concerned about the grandparent prevailing in court, though, consult a Family Law attorney if a petition is made.

Question: looking for legal statute on American Indian grandparent visitation/ custody rights? I have a daughter who is involved with drugs and is planning to sign over custody of unborn child to paternal grandmother who is not of Native heritage. I also have 3 year old grandson that I have not seen since April '06 by same daughter. I believe the drugs and other influences have caused her to neglect his needs. He was a tiny tot grass dancer until all this has gone down, so he has been exposed to his heritage but his mother and her friends are keeping him from it now.

Answer: there is a law called "the indian child welfare act" , it proposes that native american indian children be placed into a native american indian home, so as not to lose there heritage and culture. hope this helps.

Question: What kind of grandparent's rights (regarding visitation) are in place in New York? In this case the mother of the child (divorced) does not want her child to see her father (child's maternal grandfather).

Answer: In NY and every other US jurisdictions the grandparents would need to go to court to arrange for visitation. Still grandparent's rights don't go over parental rights, so they'll never have equal rights over the child as the custodial parents could have. Also there is no warranty a grand parent could get any visitation rights at all. ====== "A number of courts have recently determined that state statutes providing visitation to grandparents are unconstitutional." Grandparents' Rights http://www.enotes.com/everyday-law-encyclopedia/grandparents-rights ======

Question: Grandparent Visitation in the State of Texas-Where can I find a cheap lawyer or a free one, and go pro se? My son has denied all access to my seeing my grandson for reasons of me confronting him on his drug abuse. His father did it to my mother when my son was my grandsons age. That lasted about 3 years, this makes me think that he means it. The resided with my husband and I for 7 months the end of last year, in which time I took care of the children at the least 12 hours of the day. Once the moved I had the children daily for approximately 6-8 hours and frequently overnight, with the exception of when I suffered from a pinched nerve. The other grandparent watched them for the couple weeks I was incapacitated. On October 2 this year my sons probation officer demanded he move back to the county of his conviction (distribution of pills). I went to see an attorney and he said that his fees are 300 $ an hour and 5000$ retainer. My grandson and I are close, I teach him, nurture him, go to parks, and other cool things that kids enjoy. I have provided an atmosphere that is geared to age appropriate childhood development. I have visited several website, called te Texas State Bar Association seeking pro bono, looked for form and instructions on filing pro se with no luck, I have to file quickly for the sake of my grandson. It hurts me to know he is hurting to see me as well (I was told prior to the denial of visitation by his father that my grandson calls out for me, i know that is true). Please help us, there is no resolution to the relationship between his father and I unfortunately. So any ideas of anything you can think of please let me know.

Answer: If hes using, report it to Child Protective Services. They will in all probability remove the child to your care. Do not do this if there are no grounds, and the boy is being cared for, but if there are drugs on the premises or the house is ill kept and the boy is in any way malnourished or mistreated then notify them. If your son is going to stop you from seeing your grandson there isn't much you can do about it, except hope he gets tired of it, druggies aren't the most responsible people on earth, nor the most consistent. Its almost a given that at some point the boy will be returned to you. Next time, do the proper legal things so your son will only have visitation. CPS can help tell you what you need to do. Our children can either give us great joy or great sorrow. Let me know how things turn out.

Question: Grandparent Visitation? My sister went through a nasty divorce with her ex eventually giving up all legal rights to their children. It has been a very hard adjustment for the kids. Now they get a letter from the grandparents requesting visitation twice a month. My sister asked the kids and they do not want this. Does she have to allow the visits? It seems crazy to me. The kids are finally adjusting. They don't want to because it reminds them of their dad.

Answer: The kids wants are what's most important.....i would fight to keep that for them...

Question: What are my visitation rights as a grandparent in Florida? I am a grandmother of 2 very beautiful children. My daughter and I have not been getting along since her father and I split up 2 years ago. My daughter does not like my new husband and doesn't want him around her kids. Now she doesn't want to see me and doesn't want my grandkids to see me either. I believe she is using my grandchildren to get back at me for leaving her father. What kind of visitation rights, if any, can I get according to Florida Law.

Answer: If I'm not mistaken... grandparents have no rights. It sucks but its the truth. I live in Florida, and I was 17 when I had my daughter. I was living at home and we wanted my daughter's father to leave us alone. They told us they only person who has any say are the parents. I mean if she were an unfit mother this would be a different kind of thing. But if she is a decent mother she can decide who her children see.

Question: Why should grandparents get visitation when they are disrespectful to one or both parents? To parents: why would you allow your child to be around someone who is always trash talking you or refuses to follow your rules for the child regarding nutrition, discipline, gifts, etc...? Would you hire a childcare person who did these things? Why would you expect anything less from family members? To grandparents: what makes you think it is okay to defy the requests of the parents of your grandchildren? How can you actually say you love the child if you are constantly disrespectful and inconsiderate to one or both of his parents? If a grandparent is being awful to a parent, is it any stretch of the imagination that the grandparent will be awful to the child at some point when the child is not in their favor? Do we want to teach our children that certain people can get away with treating us badly because they are family? Who else is with me in saying if the grandparents have been confronted about their behavior and refuse to change, they lose visitation?

Answer: You do NOT need to grow up. When you had a child you decided to raise it a certain way, and there will always be someone who doesn't agree with the style you're doing it in, even if you are completely in the right. Especially on the subject of nutrition and toys, your rules need to be followed. If the grandparents can't learn that you are trying to care for your family in the way that you want to then they should not be around much. I would say big family events only like Christmas Dinner (so they aren't obligated to bring gifts), Thanksgiving, etc. You should let them send the gifts they want to give your children to you ahead of time so you can review them to see if you want them in your home. It's all your choice. If you feel disrespected by them then they should have nothing to do with the bringing up of your child.

Question: grandparent visitation rights question? im adopted and just had a baby girl a month ago, and long story short we've cut off contact from my parents (adoptive mom and stepdad) because after a couple of huge fights surrounding the fact that i did not wish to make the 2 of them my daughter's godparents, my mom started looking for any excuse she could that i'm somehow an "unfit" mother and even called cps on us, to which nothing happened because they found nothing wrong. now my mom has made it seem like if we dont let her see riley she'll file for visitation or something to that end. so i researched it but i'm still confused how it would all work, right now we live in california which is where riley was born, however we will be moving to indiana in a week and a half, so im not really sure which laws apply, and in the laws it says that maternal or paternal grandparents may petition for visitation, but are they still considered to be the maternal grandparents even though i was adopted as a baby? we're also considering getting married because in ca law it says they cant file if the parents are both married and living together, however the indiana law doesnt have that because over there the child has to have been born in wedlock.. so that's why i need to know which state it would matter in. is it the "home" state? which is just watever state the child has been living the last 6 months, or is it the state they were born in???? sry this is long but it needed to be to explain everything i wanted ........ im so stressed out i dont really know why my mother is doing this to us, but i dont want my daughter to have to grow up around these people who are just going to tell her how horrible of a person her mother is, i know what that's like when i was growing up none of my family liked my mom at all and it killed me hearing people say the things they did whenever she turned her back. and i just dont want that for her,

Answer: Grandparents have no legal rights to your child period.I would bet you have never received a legal document to support her claims at all, this is because there isn't an attorney on the planet that would take the case. Your mom is just trying to scare/bully you into giving in to her demands. If she had indeed gone to an attorney they would slam the door in her face. there is nothing she can do legally while you and your husband are still alive. Sounds to me like she knows your leaving state soon and is getting desperate. She kinda sounds a bit psycho, if i were you i wouldn't be alone with her and don't let her see the baby at all.

Question: In arizona what are the laws about grandparent rights and how good of a chance do they have to win? I was married for 4 years and my husband passed away over 2 years ago. I have moved 5 times to try and get away from former in laws. Each time they track me down, finally I had to stop cause my oldest child will be going to school. They filed grandparent visitation rights against me and got a lawyer. Prior to the death of my husband at get togethers I did put on a happy face and they have pictures and video, they plan on using this against me; however I was not happy I was mentally and physically abused by my former husband. He also had an affair for a year. The father in law does drugs but I cant prove to the courts he does. Its my word against his. Can they win and if they do and I go against the court order denying them visits what will happen to me? When my first husband passed away my children were babies. They do not remember their father. I since remarried and from almost day one my boys call their stepfather now daddy, they also think he is their biological father. He is also in the process of adopting them. At one time I did let the grandparents back into their life. They knew that my boys did not remember their biological father. I asked them to let me tell them when they were older and would understand more. They would not agree. They kept asking my son in front of his stepdad where his real father was.

Answer: go to your local friend of the court office and pick up a friend of the court handbook that'll tell you the laws on grandparents rights and just because you were not happy is not a reason to take your child away. is there more to your story? what's the harm in letting the grandparents see your child? i'm thinking the most they might get in court is visitations but i do not know for sure. State of Michigan Friend of Court Grandparent Visitation "Grandparents are afforded statutory visitation rights under certain circumstances. Grandparents may seek an order for visitation only if a child custody dispute is pending before the Court. Alos, the parents of a deceased person may file an action for visitation even if there is no child custody dispute pending and the grandchild has been adopted by a stepparent. Grandparents may not seek visitation if the parties were not married. Grandparents seeking visitation rights must file a petition through an attorney." Hope this helps a little at least. That's in the State of Michigan.