Do Grandparents Have Visitation Rights After Divorce?

As a grandparent, you want to have a relationship with your grandchild. You want to watch him or her grow, developing into a successful individual, guided by your love and attention. Unfortunately, the picture perfect grandparent/child visitation scenario is often marred by the bitterness of divorce. Hard feelings between family members can lead to difficulties for grandparents who want to spend time with the children they love

At Angela Scarlato & Associates, P.C., P.C., we recognize the importance of grandparents being a part of their grandchild’s life. With over 30 years of experience handling family law matters, New York City grandparents’ rights attorney Angela Scarlato understands the particulars of New York law as it pertains to grandparent/child visitation. You can count on her and her legal team to protect your grandparents’ rights, helping to you maintain your family relationships whenever possible.

Contact our law firm at 718-683-1780 to arrange for a free initial consultation. A Brooklyn grandparent/child visitation lawyer at our firm will evaluate your situation and discuss what we may be able to accomplish for you.

New York Grandparents’ Rights to Visitation

In New York, grandparents have the right to bring about legal proceedings for visitation with their grandchildren by statute. The statute states that there are two grounds under which grandparents have rights:

• Either or both parents of the child are deceased
• Under domestic relations law circumstances show conditions exist which equity would see fit to intervene

In order to establish your grandparents’ rights, you need to show that you have maintained a substantial and ongoing contact with your grandchild from the time of birth to the time contact was terminated. However, if your grandchild is just born and you immediately made an effort to see the child, which was denied by the parent, the court may permit the visitation to go forward.

The process of being granted grandparent/child visitation by the family court can be complex. Proving your involvement in the child’s life, or a need to intervene, involves building strong evidence to substantiate your case. Securing the assistance of a family law attorney experienced with grandparents’ rights cases can help you to set and achieve reasonable goals regarding visitation with your grandchild, as well as aid you in establishing a solid case to present to the court.

Contesting Grandparents’ Rights

In some circumstances, it is not appropriate for grandparents to exercise their right to visitation with a child. They may not have a strong bond with the child and may be using an unfortunate circumstance, such as parental illness, to obtain rights. If a parent feels a grandparent is or could potentially be a bad influence over a child, our law firm will aid you in opposing grandparent/child visitation.

Contact Grandparents’ Rights Lawyer

For a free initial consultation with Angela Scarlato & Associates, P.C. call 718-683-1780 or contact us online. Our firm represents clients throughout the Brooklyn area.