grandparent rights are upheld by law in most
states
Grandparent rights in the United
States differ from each state to state
depending on the statutes laid down by the respective courts. Grandparent
rights to have visitation and custody of the grandchild in general have been
always dealt with keeping the best interest of the child as the primary
concern. What is perceived natural to have regular interactions and contacts
with grandparents in a healthy family relationship becomes a legal contention
and necessitates the intervention of the court in a troubled relationship.
Grandparents intervene to assert
their rights on their grandchildren due to various reasons. The courts however
examine the legitimate factors that warrant the custody of a child under the care
of their grandparents. The factors could be due to potentially dangerous living
conditions that the child is being brought up. The negative influences of
alcohol and drugs, lack of loving supervision or ill treatment of the child
meted out by strangers living in the same home, incarceration of a parent,
death of parents and so on. The courts keep the child’s safety as the paramount
concern and then allow grandparent rights on the child to be exercised either
for visitation or custody.
At the same time each state goes
by its own statutes while according the visitation or custody rights. The
willingness on the part of the child to stay with the grandparents is also
taken into consideration. Besides, the grandparents’ ability to maintain and
provide for the child is also examined thoroughly.
