Grandparent Rights Attorney

The attorneys at Philip Goldberg PC represent grandparents and great-grandparents seeking grandparent rights and visitation rights with their grandchildren. We also work with parents or legal guardians who may object to grandparents’ rights and visitation. If you are facing a legal dispute regarding grandparent visitation, contact our office to schedule a consultation to discuss your rights and opinions.

If you are facing a legal dispute regarding grandparent rights, contact our office to schedule a consultation to discuss your rights and opinions.

A grandparent’s loving relationship with their grandchild can often result in lifelong positive benefits for both the grandparent and the grandchild. However, Colorado law has strict requirements concerning grandparents’ rights to visitation.

A grandparent may only obtain visitation rights in specific circumstances and must strictly adhere to the procedural requirements for seeking a visitation order. The grandparent seeking visitation faces a very high legal hurdle if the child’s parent objects to grandparents’ rights and the visitation request.

Legal Prerequisites for Grandparent Visitation

In Colorado, grandparents and great-grandparents may obtain reasonable grandparent rights to visitation only if there is or has been a “child custody case or a case concerning the allocation of parental responsibilities [APR] relating to the child.” This includes any of the following situations, whether or not child custody or parental responsibilities were specifically an issue:

  • the marriage of the child’s parents has been legally dissolved;

  • Legal custody or parental responsibilities for the child have been given to a party other than the child’s parent;
  • The child has been placed outside of the home of the child’s parent, excluding any child who has been placed for adoption or has been adopted;
  • The child’s parent, who is the child of the grandparent or grandchild of the great-grandparent, has died. No court case relating to the death of the child’s parent is necessary.

Understanding grandparents’ rights in these situations can be complex, and the laws surrounding grandparents’ rights must be carefully navigated to ensure compliance with Colorado legal standards. If you believe you qualify for grandparent rights, it is essential to consult a legal professional to guide you through the process.

Procedural Requirements for Grandparent Visitation

If a child custody or APR case is pending, the grandparent seeking visitation should request permission to intervene in the action to seek grandparent rights for visitation. If the court denies the request for intervention, the grandparent should file an independent action for visitation in the district court. The procedure for requesting grandparents’ rights to visitation is the same in both cases:

  • The grandparent must file a motion for visitation and an affidavit setting forth the facts supporting the request.

  • The person with legal custody or parental responsibilities may file an opposing affidavit.

  • If either party requests a hearing or if the court determines that a hearing is necessary, a hearing will be held, and the parties who submitted affidavits are given an opportunity to be heard.
  • The court may enter an order granting grandparent visitation only if it finds that such visitation is in the best interests of the child.

If a Parent Objects to Grandparent Visitation

The Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects the fundamental right of parents to make decisions concerning the care, custody, and control of their children. As long as a parent adequately cares for their children, there is generally no reason for the state to intervene and question the parent’s decision-making ability.

In Colorado, there is a rebuttable presumption in favor of the parent’s decision regarding grandparent rights to visitation. The parent’s decision is given “special weight” and will be upheld unless the grandparent proves, with clear and convincing evidence, that the parent’s decision is not in the child’s best interest or that the parent is unfit to make the visitation decision. This “special weight” only applies to biological or adoptive parents, not legal guardians.

If the court grants grandparents’ rights to visitation over the parent’s objection, it must issue findings of fact and conclusions of law to explain the factors it relied on to overrule the parent’s decision.

Modification of a Grandparent visitation order

The court may modify or terminate the grandparent’s visitation rights if it would serve the best interests of the child.

Survival of grandparent visitation rights following the termination of the parents’ parental rights

An order granting or denying parenting time rights to a parent does not affect grandparent rights to visitation. However, an involuntary termination of the parent’s parental rights eliminates grandparents’ rights to visitation. An exception occurs if the termination is due to the death of the parents, rather than a legal termination. In this case, the grandparent’s visitation rights remain intact.

Similarly, if the child is adopted and the natural parents’ legal rights are terminated, grandparent visitation rights are also terminated, even if the adoptive parents are relatives, such as the child’s other grandparents. An exception applies when the child is adopted due to the death of the parents rather than a legal termination of their rights, allowing grandparent rights to survive the adoption.

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Penalties for refusing to comply with grandparent visitation order

If a court finds that the person with legal custody or parental responsibility of the child has violated a visitation order or schedule, it may issue new orders in the best interests of the child. These orders may include, but are not limited to:

  • Imposing additional terms and conditions consistent with the court’s previous order;
  • Modifying the previous order to better meet the child’s best interests;
  • Requiring the violator to post bond or security to ensure future compliance;
  • Providing makeup visitation for the aggrieved grandparent or great-grandparent and child under these conditions:

    • The makeup visitation must be the same type and duration as the visitation that was denied, including weekends, holidays, weekdays, or summer;
    • The visitation must be made up within one year after the noncompliance;
    • The makeup visitation is in the manner chosen by the aggrieved grandparent or great-grandparent, as long as it serves the child’s best interests;
  • Finding the violator in contempt of court and imposing a fine or jail sentence;
  • Awarding actual expenses, including attorney fees, court costs, and other expenses incurred by the aggrieved grandparents’ rights party due to the failure to provide court-ordered visitation.

These measures help protect grandparent rights in cases of noncompliance.

An aggrieved party may also have the right to bring an independent legal action in court.

Additional Considerations

A grandparent who has grandparent rights to visitation may not interfere with the custodial parent’s decisions regarding the religious training or upbringing of the child. Additionally, a grandparent may not file a motion seeking visitation more than once every two years unless there is a showing of good cause.

The court may also order reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party in a grandparents’ rights visitation case. However, the court cannot make any order restricting the movement of the child if the restriction is solely for the purpose of allowing the grandparent to exercise visitation rights.

Conclusion

Colorado law regarding grandparents’ rights to visitation is complex. A grandparent seeking visitation must comply with all substantive and procedural requirements and may face significant challenges, especially if one of the child’s parents objects to the request for visitation. Once a visitation order is in place, the child’s parent or guardian faces severe penalties for failing to comply with the order.

Colorado Grandparent Rights Attorney

The attorneys at Philip Goldberg PC have extensive experience representing clients in grandparent rights visitation cases. If you are involved in a legal dispute regarding grandparent visitation, contact our office to schedule a consultation and discuss your rights and options.