Child custody disputes can have wide ranging implications. While it can certainly shape the future of each parent and child, as well as their relationships with each other, it can also impact the amount of time that grandparents get to spend with their grandchildren. And oftentimes grandparents feel hopeless in these matters, thinking they have to wait for the parents to agree to allow them to visit with the child in question. While that may be true to a certain extent, the law does leave an opening for grandparents to seek visitation with their grandchildren.
If you want to secure visitation with your grandchildren, then you need to know the law and how to navigate it in an advantageous way. That can be tricky to figure out on your own, but we hope that this post will at least give you a strong starting point so that you know what you need to do to protect your grandparent rights.
When can grandparents seek visitation with their grandchildren
Under Arizona law, there is no guaranteed visitation for grandparents. Instead, the law seeks to protect parental authority and autonomy. So, if you want to secure visitation with your grandchildren, then you’ll have to seek a court order. And even then, the court will try to issue an order that least interferes with parental autonomy.
So, what do you have to show before you can obtain court-ordered visitation with your grandchildren? At a minimum, you’ll want to demonstrate the following:
- That grandparent visitation is in the child’s best interests: The child’s best interests is going to be at the forefront of all decisions made by the court in a custody case. Therefore, you’ll want to show the strength of your relationship with your grandchild and how withholding visitation may be harmful to their development and well-being.
- That you have proper motivation for seeking visitation: The court is going to be less inclined to grant visitation if it appears that your request is more aimed at harming the parent than providing benefit to the child. So, keep your motion for grandparent visitation focused on why such visitation is best for you grandchild and refrain from what appear to be personal attacks on the parents. Of course, you’ll still need to be prepared to address parental shortcomings if those are in play.
- That your visitation won’t interfere with custodial activities: The court will give a lot of deference to the parents’ authority. Therefore, you’ll be in a better position to be successful if you can show that visitation won’t negatively impact the parents’ custodial duties, obligations and activities. So, show that you’re willing to be flexible with your proposed visitation.
- That the parent’s motivation for objecting to visitation is unfounded: The court will also consider the parents’ justifications for objecting to grandparent visitation. If you can show that the reasoning is unfounded, the parents make false allegations or that they’re more focused on themselves than the child, then this consideration can fall in your favor.
- That visitation will maintain a relationship with extended family: If one or both of the child’s parents are deceased, then grandparent visitation may be the only way to maintain relationships with extended family. If you can show the value of this relationship, then you’ll be in a stronger position to secure the visitation you’re seeking.
Know how to advocate to protect your grandparent visitation rights
Although grandparents play a pivotal role in their grandchildren’s lives, they’re often left in a tight spot when visitation is denied by the children’s parents. But you might be able to use the law to your favor to build and maintain a strong relationship with your grandchildren. If you want to learn more about how to effectively craft your legal arguments, then now is the time to start figuring out your legal strategies.