In certain circumstances, Courts may determine that grandparents have rights to visitation or even custody of their grandchildren.   The standard applied to grandparent visitation cases is whether the grandparent visitation or custody is in the best interests of the grandchild.  In the case of E.S v. P.D., 8 N.Y.3d 150 (2007), a man asked his mother-in-law to move into the marital residence to care for her terminally ill daughter and grandchild.  After her daughter died, the man asked the grandmother to stay in the home and continue to care for the grandchild. 

After approximately 3 ½ years, the relationship between the man and his mother-in-law became strained regarding certain issues surrounding care of the grandchild.  He then demanded that the grandmother move out of the marital residence and forbade her from having contact with the grandchild.  The grandmother petitioned for visitation with the grandchild and the Court of Appeals determined that visitation between the grandmother and grandchild was in the child’s best interests, given the history of caregiving and the close relationship between grandmother and grandchild.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 16th, 2009 at 8:00 am and is filed under Custody and Visitation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.