De Novo Law LLC - Phoenix Arizona - (480) 725-2200
Grandparent’s & Third-Party Rights Using a Paraprofessional
Grandparents sometimes encounter circumstances in Arizona in which they need to get custody of their grandchildren. In other situations, the children’s parents might prevent the grandparents from having visits with their grandchildren.
Arizona recognizes grandparent’s rights to seek visitation even when a parent objects.
Whether your grandchildren’s parents are unfit and unable to take care of your grandchildren or are preventing you from seeing them, you should talk to the experienced legal paraprofessional at De Novo Law. Stephanie Villalobos, LP is a licensed legal paraprofessional with more than three decades of experience helping people with family law matters, and she can provide legal representation to you at a more affordable price than an attorney.
Ms. Villalobos is authorized to handle many types of cases, including those involving grandparent’s rights in Arizona.
Help with Establishing Grandparent’s Visitation Rights
Under ARS 25-402, people who are not a child’s parents, including their grandparents, can file a petition with the court to ask for parenting time or visitation rights. The process for filing a petition for third-party or grandparent visitation rights and the requirements that must be met are outlined in ARS 25-409.
When grandparents file a petition to establish their visitation rights, the court will first consider whether doing so would be in the best interests of the child. If visitation would be in the child’s best interests, the court may grant visitation in any of the following situations:
One of the parents has been missing for at least three months or is deceased.
The child was born out of wedlock to unmarried parents.
The parents have been divorced for three months or longer.
If the grandparent has stood in loco parentis to the child, the parents must have a pending legal separation or divorce.
The court will not grant visitation rights to you unless it finds that doing so would be in your grandchild’s best interests.
The court considers the following factors when deciding whether granting visitation rights would be in the best interests of the child:
The past relationship the child enjoyed with the grandparent
What motivated the grandparent to seek visitation rights
What motivated the parent to deny the grandparent’s ability to visit the child
The amount of visitation requested and whether it might negatively impact the child’s participation in regular activities
When one parent is deceased, whether the child would benefit from maintaining a relationship with the deceased parent’s extended family
Grandchildren often have special relationships with their grandparents. When a parent keeps the grandchildren away from their grandparents, it can be hard for both the grandchild and grandparent.