When Can Grandparents Petition for Visitation in New York?

Grandparents who are being blocked from seeing their own grandchildren frequently ask us about visitation rights and options here in New York. Talk to a grandparents’ rights lawyer in Forest Hills, NY to get precise advice based on your situation: you do not have an automatic right to see your grandchildren, but you can petition the court for visitation in certain situations.

When Can Grandparents Petition for Visitation in New York?

New York Domestic Relations Law § 72 lets grandparents file a special proceeding for visitation rights under two circumstances: 

1. When one or both parents have died 
2. When equitable circumstances exist that justify court involvement

When the child’s parents have abandoned the child to the care of their grandparents for at least two years, the grandparents can seek custody. 

To file at all, you must first show standing, which you do by proving you have a substantial prior relationship with the grandchild or that the parents have blocked your access despite your good-faith efforts.

Filing Requirements

Your lawyer will help you to review all the relevant family history and then gather the necessary evidence of your relationship with the child and then draft a petition. You file this in the Family Court or Supreme Court in the county where the child lives. The court then sends notice to the parents or the current custodian and holds a hearing where everyone presents their side of the argument.

When There’s a Dispute

The judge will decide whether visitation serves the child’s best interests. To make this decision, a judge will consider your existing emotional bond with your grandchild, your ability to provide a stable environment during visits, and any impact on the parent-child relationship that your visitation might have. The court can order specific dates, times, and conditions for the visitation or deny the request. 

When Parents Pass Away

When a parent has passed away, grandparents get automatic standing to seek visitation. The petition still needs a judge to do a best-interests-of-the-child analysis of the situation, but the threshold often feels lower as you’re going through it. The family is already facing loss, and the judge will be thinking specifically about how continued contact might support the child’s emotional health during a time of grief.

Seeking Custody

You can also seek custody under extraordinary circumstances, especially where the child has lived with you for at least 24 months while the parent voluntarily stepped away from their parental duties (as opposed to situations where a parent was involuntarily separated from their child, such as with active duty military deployment). There’s a higher bar to success here than with a visitation petition, and you’ll need very clear evidence that your custody is in the child’s best interest.

Talk to a Grandparents’ Rights Lawyer in Forest Hills, NY

Contact us now at the Law Offices of Joseph H. Nivin for a free thirty-minute case review. We’ve been helping Queens families for decades and can help you review your case and options and defend all your rights.

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