Is Grandparent Visitation a right?

Grandparent rights are not automatic in the way that parental custody rights are.

Grandparents can’t simply say, “We want visitation,” and automatically get it. Their rights are largely dependent on the parents’ arrangement, unless the grandparents can show a substantial, ongoing relationship with the child.

For example:

• If mom and dad live with grandma and grandpa, and the grandparents care for the child every day for five years, that can create a strong basis for grandparent visitation rights once the parents move out.
• But if the family lives with grandparents for only six months and then leaves, that usually does not create a legal right to visitation.

I see many cases where grandparents hire lawyers who promise them everything, and those cases get dismissed on motion because there isn’t enough of a substantial relationship under the law. Without that significant, long-term involvement, grandparents generally have no standing to demand visitation over the parents’ objection.