Do Grandparents Have Rights to Visitation With Their Grandchildren?
This is a very common case that I come across, as sometimes when parents are going through a divorce or separation, they attempt to alienate the grandparents from the children. They will either restrict visitations between the grandparents and the children, or they will altogether deny the visitation between grandparents and the kids.
Grandparents who wish to continue a relationship with their grandchildren may petition the court for continued visitation. In Nevada, grandparents do have the right to reasonable visitation with their grandchildren, however, because the parents have a fundamental right to raise their children and to decide who the children can and cannot see, the grandparents have a burden of proving that. Grandparents must prove to the court that visitation will be in the children’s best interest. Some examples of meeting this burden of proof to the court are:
- The children have lived with the grandparents, or the grandparents have been a significant part of the children’s lives and have a close relationship and bond with the children.
- The grandparents are mentally and physically able to care for the children.
- The grandparents are of good moral character and can be good role models for the children.
- The grandparents’ ability and desire and continue to foster a good relationship between the children and the parents as well as other relatives in the family.
- The children’s desire to want to visit and spend time with the grandparents.
Remember, the court will always look at what is in the best interest of the children whenever deciding anything pertaining to children. The court also presumes that the parents of the children are doing what is in the best interest of the children, so therefore, the grandparents will have the burden to prove to the court that visitation with their grandchildren is in the children’s best interest. The best way to do so, is to prove at least some, if not all, of the factors above or more.
If you are a grandparent looking for visitation with your grandchildren, please contact an experienced Family Law attorney to go over your specific situation in detail. Our office can be reached at (702) 998-1188, info@ljlawlv.com, or by scheduling a consultation online.
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