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Grandparents Visitation Law

The right of the grandparent to visit the grandchild is not a constitutional right.  Traditionally, the common law denied grandparents visitation with a child over a parent’s objections.  However, since 1965, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have enacted legislation enabling grandparents to petition the courts for visitation rights with grandchildren.  The laws do not make granting of visitation rights automatic — they merely give grandparents the right to ask for a visitation order. Therefore grandparent visitation rights are merely stat­utory rights, given by state legislatures.  All states have some form of grandparent visitation laws.  Among those laws that permit grandparents to file for visitation rights, there are two primary types – restrictive and permissive.

The law relating to visitation rights of grandparents varies from state to state.  The law relating to grandparent’s visitation rights for the various states in the U.S. can be found under the following link.


Inside Grandparents Visitation Law