Legal Rights of Grandparents: In Honor of National Grandparents Day

When all is ideal in a family, the bond between grandparent and child is a special one. Maybe you’ve even heard that grandparenting is the grand reward for parenting. But what happens when the grandparent becomes the parent? Or when parents divorce, or one parent dies and a grandparents’ visitation rights are taken away? 

This is happening more and more often. It’s an issue you’ll want to be aware of if your child has a close relationship with their grandparents, or if you are a grandparent who wants to maintain a relationship with your grandkids no matter what. If you currently do not have a relationship with your parents and want to ensure that your child doesn’t either upon your passing, these considerations also apply to you. 

Scenario #1
Your child has a close relationship with your parents that you want to maintain no matter what happens to you.  In this case, you may want to consider putting together a guardian nomination listing your parents as the legal guardians of your child or children should anything happen to you.  This is crucial for all parents, but it is especially critical if you are a single or a divorced parent with full custody.  If you were to die, and your child’s other parent or other grandparents were to fight for custody of your child, your known and documented wishes that your parents maintain a relationship with your child could be pivotal.  

If you are a grandparent reading this, make sure your adult child has legally named guardians for your grandchild so that you do not have to suffer through a protracted court battle, created because your child didn’t take a simple action to legally document his or her choices now.

Scenario #2
In the event that you know you never want your parents raising your child, it’s just as critical for you to name legal guardians. Quite often, if both parents have become unable to care for their child due to death or incapacity, grandparents are the first option the Court system looks to as potential caregivers for the child.

But, maybe you would choose someone else, or perhaps you would even want there to be restrictions on the care or visitation of your child by your parents. In that case, you must legally document your choices. You may even want to create a confidential exclusion of guardianship, which I can prepare as part of a comprehensive estate plan for your family

Scenario #3
If you are a grandparent who has already become a primary caretaker for your grandchild, you will want to take the steps of naming legal guardians for the child or children in your care, in case anything happens to you.  

This National Grandparent’s Day, make grandparenting a priority in your family.