{"id":36499,"date":"2023-07-13T10:35:25","date_gmt":"2023-07-13T14:35:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/?p=36499"},"modified":"2023-07-13T10:35:25","modified_gmt":"2023-07-13T14:35:25","slug":"business-report-do-grandparents-have-visitation-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2023\/07\/business-report-do-grandparents-have-visitation-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Business Report: Do Grandparents Have Visitation Rights?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Barbara King is a partner at Tully Rinckey PLLC, Attorneys & Counselors at Law.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Barbara King<\/p>\n

For grandparents, the relationship with a grandchild can be one of the most important things in the world. But what happens when the child\u2019s parents prevent you from seeing or having a relationship with them?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes, the only recourse left to grandparents is to petition for grandparents\u2019 visitation rights from Family Court. But do grandparents have visitation rights in New York?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Visitation rights vary from state to state, but generally speaking, grandparents\u2019 visitation rights are not as extensive as those granted to the child\u2019s biological or adopted parents. But grandparents do have a statutory right to petition for visitation, even if the child\u2019s parents are unmarried, have been legally divorced or one is deceased.<\/p>\n

These limited rights to visitation are not extended to aunts and uncles, great-grandparents, or other family members, except in circumstances where the child\u2019s natural parents and grandparents have both passed away, or are otherwise legally barred from access to the child. Adoption is not a barrier to a biological grandparent\u2019s rights to request visitation, but the child\u2019s best interest, including health, safety, and welfare are the primary considerations.<\/p>\n

What if the custodial parent is opposed?<\/p>\n

The state of New York recognizes that a child\u2019s parents have the fundamental right to raise their children in the manner they feel is best for the child, including who is or is not allowed to visit with them. As such, a Family Court will grant visitation rights to grandparents who have an already established relationship and\/or have been denied access to their grandchild if it is deemed by the court to be in the child\u2019s best interests.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong>However, New York courts also recognize the benefits of a grandchild having a relationship with their grandparents, such as childcare, education, developmental activities, and basic love and affection.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But if a parent objects to that relationship, then the courts must give additional weight to the parent\u2019s wishes for their child, the reason for objecting to such relationship, and their right to make decisions for the child\u2019s upbringing.<\/p>\n

Remember, the law does not provide for an automatic right to grandchild visitation. Rather, grandparents are permitted to petition the court for visitation, since New York acknowledges that visits with grandparents are often an established and important part of a child\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

Is court required in seeking visitation?<\/p>\n

If the child\u2019s parent or guardian has interfered with the grandparents\u2019 establishing or maintaining a healthy relationship with the child, or other extraordinary circumstances exist, then the court may grant the grandparent\u2019s visitation rights. New York law states that the grandparents of a child whose parents are deceased, or where it can be shown that conditions exist under which the court would see fit to intervene, may apply to the state Supreme Court or Family Court to request visitation rights in respect to the child.<\/p>\n

Grandparents often take their case to court when access to the child has been cut off by the parent against the grandparent\u2019s wishes, or the grandparent is seeking to establish a relationship with the child where one did not previously exist. However, a change in the parent\u2019s legal relationship, such as divorce, separation, or annulment, is also a common basis for grandparents\u2019 visitation rights cases.<\/p>\n

Grandparents seeking legal visitation rights with their grandchildren must file a petition (a formal written request) with the court in the New York county where the grandchild lives. The petition must describe the basis for such petition including the existence of any relationship with the grandchild; the interference alleged and the manner in which such visitation is in the grandchild\u2019s best interest as well as the proposed visitation schedule.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Once the petition is filed, the court will direct notice to all parties involved, including the child\u2019s parents, along with any other person who may have filed for custody. The court may also appoint an attorney for the child, to ensure the child\u2019s voice is heard.<\/p>\n

Grandparents must also establish legal grounds for making the visitation request. If one or both parents are deceased, this determination is automatic under New York state law. If one or both natural parents are living, then petitioning grandparents are required to prove that they have an existing relationship with the child, or that the parent\/guardian has deliberately and improperly prevented one from being established.<\/p>\n

After legal grounds for visitation have been established, grandparents have the burden of proof to show that the grandchild spending time with them is in the child\u2019s best interest.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Courts will consider the following: The age of the child; wishes of the child, if they are of sufficient maturity to express a preference; distance between the proposed location of visits and the child\u2019s home; mental and physical health of the child, parents, or anyone else who may be filing for visitation rights or custody; Previous and current relationship of the grandparent with the child and parent; and grandparent\u2019s caregiving skills and disposition toward the parent.<\/p>\n

In many court cases, some level of animosity between the parents and grandparents is evident, which is relevant, but not sufficient on its own to deny any request for court-ordered visitation. The court must consider the parents\u2019 preferences, and balance factors such as the existing family structure and everyday living situation of the child, as well as the extent of any existing relationship with the grandparents.<\/p>\n

Begin by consulting with a family law attorney who can assess the situation and recommend the best course of action. They can also help by filing a petition with the court for visitation rights, or\u00a0 <\/span>modify an existing visitation order, as well as providing the required notice to all parties, and representing you in court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Barbara King For grandparents, the relationship with a grandchild can be one of the most important things in the world. But what happens when the child\u2019s parents prevent you from seeing or having a relationship with them?\u00a0 Sometimes, the only recourse left to grandparents is to petition for grandparents\u2019 visitation rights from Family Court. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":36500,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nBusiness Report: Do Grandparents Have Visitation Rights? - Glens Falls Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2023\/07\/business-report-do-grandparents-have-visitation-rights\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Business Report: Do Grandparents Have Visitation Rights? - Glens Falls Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Barbara King For grandparents, the relationship with a grandchild can be one of the most important things in the world. But what happens when the child\u2019s parents prevent you from seeing or having a relationship with them?\u00a0 Sometimes, the only recourse left to grandparents is to petition for grandparents\u2019 visitation rights from Family Court. […]\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2023\/07\/business-report-do-grandparents-have-visitation-rights\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Glens Falls Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-07-13T14:35:25+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/109\/2023\/07\/tully-column-king.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"432\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"611\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jake Van Ness\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jake Van Ness\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2023\/07\/business-report-do-grandparents-have-visitation-rights\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2023\/07\/business-report-do-grandparents-have-visitation-rights\/\",\"name\":\"Business Report: Do Grandparents Have Visitation Rights? - Glens Falls Business Journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-13T14:35:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-13T14:35:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/a11ec438b5f0e57f1156754ba3931b86\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2023\/07\/business-report-do-grandparents-have-visitation-rights\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2023\/07\/business-report-do-grandparents-have-visitation-rights\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2023\/07\/business-report-do-grandparents-have-visitation-rights\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Business Report: Do Grandparents Have Visitation Rights?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/\",\"name\":\"Glens Falls Business Journal\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/a11ec438b5f0e57f1156754ba3931b86\",\"name\":\"Jake Van Ness\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8083519989e12032abdd06a668982ef4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8083519989e12032abdd06a668982ef4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jake Van Ness\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/author\/jakev\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Business Report: Do Grandparents Have Visitation Rights? - Glens Falls Business Journal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2023\/07\/business-report-do-grandparents-have-visitation-rights\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Business Report: Do Grandparents Have Visitation Rights? - Glens Falls Business Journal","og_description":"By Barbara King For grandparents, the relationship with a grandchild can be one of the most important things in the world. But what happens when the child\u2019s parents prevent you from seeing or having a relationship with them?\u00a0 Sometimes, the only recourse left to grandparents is to petition for grandparents\u2019 visitation rights from Family Court. […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2023\/07\/business-report-do-grandparents-have-visitation-rights\/","og_site_name":"Glens Falls Business Journal","article_published_time":"2023-07-13T14:35:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":432,"height":611,"url":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/109\/2023\/07\/tully-column-king.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jake Van Ness","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jake Van Ness","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2023\/07\/business-report-do-grandparents-have-visitation-rights\/","url":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2023\/07\/business-report-do-grandparents-have-visitation-rights\/","name":"Business Report: Do Grandparents Have Visitation Rights? - Glens Falls Business Journal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-07-13T14:35:25+00:00","dateModified":"2023-07-13T14:35:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/a11ec438b5f0e57f1156754ba3931b86"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2023\/07\/business-report-do-grandparents-have-visitation-rights\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2023\/07\/business-report-do-grandparents-have-visitation-rights\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2023\/07\/business-report-do-grandparents-have-visitation-rights\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Business Report: Do Grandparents Have Visitation Rights?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/","name":"Glens Falls Business Journal","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/a11ec438b5f0e57f1156754ba3931b86","name":"Jake Van Ness","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8083519989e12032abdd06a668982ef4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8083519989e12032abdd06a668982ef4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jake Van Ness"},"url":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/author\/jakev\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36499"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/89"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36499"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36499\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36501,"href":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36499\/revisions\/36501"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}