Can I Get Visitation Rights to My Grandchildren In Ohio?

If you are a grandparent and you are currently in the process of trying to obtain visitation rights to see your grandchildren, or if you are just an interested third party who is curious to know if a grandparent is capable of obtaining visitation rights to see their grandchildren in the state of Ohio, then you may be surprised and/or delighted to know that a grandparent can obtain visitation rights in Ohio. The process isn’t necessarily the easiest, but if it is important to a person, that won’t matter.

Before continuing, it is important that you as the reader understand that this blog should not be construed as legal advice, but rather is a basic summary of when our actions and conduct becomes disorderly conduct in the eyes of the law. For actual legal advice, a person who is facing a disorderly conduct charge should consult an attorney for accurate and up-to-date legal information.

For a grandparent to be eligible to file for visitation rights the parents need to be unmarried, divorced or one of them has died. Some kind of change or modification to the child’s parental/guardian structure will typically be enough for the grandparent to seek out visitation rights.

Typically, the first step in obtaining visitation rights is to file a motion with the court seeking out visitation or companionship rights for the child. After the motion has been filed, a hearing will usually be conducted in which the court will look at a bunch of different things (including the opinion of the grandparents, the opinion of the parents, the best interests of the child, and other outside factors) in coming to their determination. It is important that a grandparent show that them having visitation rights to their grandchild is in that child’s best interest and would be a good thing for that child in the long run.

After the court has looked at all of these factors, it will make its decision of whether or not it will grant visitation rights to the grandparents who are seeking them.

If you are a grandparent who has recently filed a motion for visitation rights or if you have recently been granted visitation rights to your grandchildren, then there are a few things you need to know.

• Just because you have visitation rights, does not mean that you have any kind of say in any kind of custody determination involving the child.
• Your visitation rights can be modified or terminated by the court at any time it sees fit. The factors that usually determine whether visitation rights are modified or terminated includes:
  1. A change in the custody situation of the child that was different at the time the grandparent filed for the visitation rights.
  2. If the judge decides that it is no longer in the best interest of the child that the grandparent has visitation rights.
  3. Once the child is an adult, the visitation rights may be modified or terminated because the individual is no longer a child/minor.

Now, as an informed reader, it should be clear to you that the biggest factor in determining whether the grandparents should be granted visitation rights to a child is the best interest of the child. The courts like to look at themselves as a second guardian for the child and they want to be sure that the child has only positive influences in his/her life. So if you are a grandparent who is considering filing for visitation rights, or you are a grandparent who has visitation rights but wants to keep them, then you need to make sure that you are constantly keeping the child’s best interest in mind and that you are a positive influence on that child’s future.

For more about Visitation Rights Related information, Click HERE.  the Law Firm of Barr, Jones & Associates LLP can give you the experienced Divorce Columbus Ohio Lawyer .