Most grandparents understand their relationships with their grandchildren as ones where they can spoil, love and unconditionally support the youths. In some families, grandparents do much more for their grandchildren, such as provide them with homes when their parents cannot and provide daily care when their parents must work. Texas grandparents often relish the time that they get to spend with their grandchildren and seek to maximize that time whenever they can.
It can be particularly difficult, then, when legal obstacles prevent them from seeing the kids that they love. For example, if a child’s parent dies, that child may lose contact with their grandparents on the deceased parent’s side of the family. Or, if a child’s parents divorce and only one parent is granted physical custody of them the parents of the noncustodial parent may see their contact with their grandchild significantly diminished.
In situations where a barrier forms between a grandparent and their grandchild there are options for the grandparent to enforce their rights to visitation time. Courts evaluating grandparents’ requests for visitation time may first determine if allowing such visitation time would benefit the best interests of the child; if granting a grandparent scheduled time with their grandchild would serve the youth then it is possible for the grandparent to prevail in the legal quest.
The family law situations that give rise to grandparents’ rights cases are diverse and can be complex. As such it is always a good idea for individuals subject to these unusual circumstances to discuss their cases with a board-certified family law attorney. While readers may review the basic information contained in this post they are cautioned that it is not legal advice and should not be read as such.