If you are worried about your grandchildren and want to provide a stable home life for them, you may be thinking about seeking custody. Grandparents do not have immediate custody rights over their grandchildren but have to prove that the children are in a harmful situation and that intervention is needed. If you are convinced that gaining custody is best for the children, you will need to prove in court the absence of care the children are currently receiving and how you will provide emotional and physical support in a positive environment. Knowing everything that this uphill battle involves will rely on you speaking with a trusted attorney who practices family law can help you navigate how you can gain guardianship or visitation of your grandchildren.
Before pursuing custody
Before you begin pursuing custody of your grandchildren, try first to simply be a positive presence in your grandchildren’s lives. Having a routine of seeing or keeping your grandchildren could give you a chance to check in with them and see how they are doing at home. By establishing yourself as a trusted guardian to your grandchildren, you can care for them while being a supportive help to the parents, hopefully avoiding a custody fight. If there is ever a reason to remove the children from their home, you will likely be considered as a suitable placement because you already spend regular time with your grandchildren, and the parents have trusted you in the past.
Grandparents can play an important role in the lives of their grandchildren. But parents still hold the right to decide who their children are around and can even prevent a grandparent from visiting the children. Simply not being allowed to see your grandchildren is not reason enough for you to win a custody dispute. If the parents of the child are still married, the court will likely not hear your request for visitation rights. Grandparents do not have an absolute right to see the children. If you can prove that visitation rights should be granted to you because of a necessity for the well-being of the children, it is possible that you will be granted this right. Reasons that look positive for you in court are:
- A previously established positive relationship with the child
- If the child has lived with you before
- Evidence of financial assistance by the grandparent
- The child’s ability to express a desire to see the grandparents
If you have visitation rights to see your grandchildren, you have already established your positive influence in your grandchildren’s lives. But if you continue to worry for your grandchildren’s safety in the home, you should file to gain custody, if that is in the best interest of the children.
Custody
If neglect, abuse, or risk of bodily mental, or emotional harm is occurring against your grandchildren, you could gain custody or placement of the children. But for a grandparent to gain guardianship, that may mean the parent or parents lose the right to have a say in the children’s lives. The State of Nevada attempts to keep families together if at all possible unless substantial proof is provided that the children must be removed from the home. When the children are removed from the home, a grandparent can receive guardianship rights, also known as a kinship foster placement, of their grandchildren. If you are genuinely worried about your grandchildren and want to explore the option of gaining custody of them, give the trusted firm at Warnock Family Law a call today.