Grandparent Visitation Rights KNOW YOUR OPTIONS, CHOOSE A PLAN OF ACTION by Loma Davies Silcott Gone are the days when your children and grandchildren lived down the block or around the corner and you could visit them whenever you wanted. In our mobile society, many children live half way across the country and grandparents are lucky to see their grandchildren once or twice a year. Today, even that seldom is better than what an increasing number of grandparents are facing: a court fight for the right to see their grandchildren.
Although no one knows how many such visitation cases there are in the United States today, experts agree that the numbers are rising. Richard Victor, an attorney in Michigan, has made a specialty of such cases. When he began in 1979, he had only half a dozen clients. In the years since then, his firm has represented well over 600. He also founded and is executive director of the nonprofit, nationwide group, Grandparents Rights Organization (GRO), based in Birmingham, Michigan.
Problems usually occur when there has been a nasty divorce and your child's ex-spouse has custody of the children. For whatever reason, he or she decides to deny you access to your grandchildren. Fortunately, many state laws now provide reasonable visitation rights for maternal and paternal grandparents. However, since legislation varies widely from state to state, even if you win your case in one state, you will have to start all over again if your grandchildren move to another state. | |
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