Grandparents Rights in a Divorce

Grandparent rights are tricky as it depends on if the parties are married. If the parties are married and in an intact marriage grandparents unfortunately have no rights. If the parties however, are married and are going through a divorce the grandparents can ask to intervene in that proceeding hopefully the parties will be able to agree to give them some type of companionship time, or if they can’t the court will once again decide. If the parties are unmarried when they have the child a grandparent can petition the juvenile court for either companionship time or if they believe it’s necessary for legal custody of that child in order to obtain legal custody as a grandparent you would need to show that both parties are unfit as parents, unable to care for the child whether that be for financial reasons, mental health reasons, drug use. That grandparent will also need to show that it’s in the best interest of the child or children to live with them. The last way that a grandparent can establish some type of parental right is if the parties have gone through a divorce and unfortunately one of those parents dies. So the grandparent can petition the court for some companionship time and kind of step in the shoes of the deceased parent. Learn more about grandparents rights at