A former couple finalizing their bitter divorce, may never want to see each other again. However, because they had children, life gets more complicated. Each set of grandparents share their disdain for the former spouse, but adore their grandchildren. Each parent may try to block their former in-laws from visiting the grandchildren, making all sorts of claims to justify their position. Will they be able to visit their grandchildren again? Will the grandparents need to secure legal counsel to petition the court for visitation?
Determining who has the right to spend time with a child can be complicated, says family law attorneys Alan Plevy and Kyung (Kathryn) Dickerson. The Commonwealth of Virginia does allow relatives with a “legitimate interest” in maintaining a relationship with the minor child to petition for visitation.
“In some cases, a parent may prohibit contact with the child’s adult siblings or grandparents,” explains Plevy. This may be for many reasons including divorce.. For example, a parent may prohibit the child from seeing the parents of a former or deceased spouse, half sibling or step-sibling, even though those grandparents and siblings may be biologically related to the child.
However, the court recognizes grandparents and siblings of an estranged child to petition for visitation rights, if they are deemed to be a person with a “legitimate reason”. Step-parents may also have certain visitation rights and the opportunity to petition for contact.
When one or both parents block contact between the child and a grandparent or sibling, Dickerson says the petitioning party must first prove that they are a person of “legitimate interest” and then that the child would experience actual harm to his or her health or welfare without the grandparent or sibling in his or her life. The court must also find that allowing visitation would be in the best interests of the child.
If you have any questions regarding visitation rights or any other family law matters, please contact Alan Plevy at abplevy@smolenplevy.com or Kyung (Kathryn) Dickerson at kndickerson@smolenplevy.com.
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