Grandparents today may play a number of different roles in the lives of their grandchildren and may wonder what their rights are as a result. Because of the varied roles grandparents play in the lives of their grandchildren, and the important bond between grandparents and their grandchildren, it is helpful for grandparents to know about grandparents’ rights in their state.
Grandparents’ rights refer to child custody and visitation rights for grandparents. For many grandparents in different situations, these rights can be very important. Grandparents may request child custody in certain circumstances when it would be in the best interests of the child. Child custody decisions and determinations are always guided by what is in the best interests of the child.
If it is in the child’s best interests to have visitation with grandparents and the child’s parents are divorced; one of the parents has abused or neglected the child; one of the parents has died, been incarcerated or has been determined to be incompetent; there has been court-ordered termination of one of the parent’s parental rights; or the child has lived with the grandparent for six months or more, the court may grant visitation of the child to the grandparent. If a child is living with his or her grandparent, the grandparent may request custody of the child.
The relationship between grandparents and grandchildren is an unquestionably important one, which is why grandparents should be familiar with their rights in Texas and how to go about exercising those rights. An experienced family law attorney can help Texas grandparents understand their options with regard to the different child visitation and custody situations they may face.
