Grandparents and Third-Party Custody/Visitation

When you are having marital difficulties the knee-jerk reaction can be to start to consider filing for a divorce. However, when you start to think it through and you have children you recognize the wide reaching implications of the decision. In addition to the way that it would impact the children, a divorce also has a significant effect on the extended family. The relationships that many grandparents have with their grandchildren is very special indeed, and this too is something that can be altered when couples with children get divorced.

Fortunately, the vast majority of people are well aware of the value of these relationships, and they have a heart. So in most cases of divorce the custodial parent will not stand in the way of grandparents having access to their grandchildren, but there are exceptions. In these cases grandparents have legal recourse.

According to Title 30, Chapter 3 of the Alabama Code grandparents can petition the court to order visitation rights under certain circumstances. These include cases when the family is not intact and in cases when the parents do live together but are using their authority as parents to prevent the grandparents from having a relationship with their grandchildren.

However, even in cases when the grandparents have the right to seek visitation they will not always be successful. It is easy to assume that every parent who refuses to allow grandparent visitation is always 100% wrong, but this is not the case. The court will grant visitation only if it decides that such interaction is in the best interests of the child or children involved.

Grandparents and other interested third parties may also be granted custody of dependent children under certain circumstances at the discretion of the court. But if one or both of the parents asserts custody rights, the grandparent or third party would have to prove the unfitness of the parent or parents.

For legal advice about grandparents and third party custody/visitation, contact a Mobile AL family lawyer to arrange for a free consultation.