questions & answers

Question: Our duaughter will not let us see our 2 yr old granddaughter. This may sound petty, and it is. It stems from a year ago, when we told her and her husband that they had to move out of our house. They had been living with us For over a year, with no plans to move forward any time soon. They were taking advantage, and their pets and they were destroying our house. They had a new baby, and we took care of her while they worked, and we worked also.. The time came that we had to tell them to go, after our daughter became verbally abusive to me one day. Are their rights for us at all?

Answer: Arizona Revised Statutes, Section 25-409 has been called the grandparents' visitation statute.  The statute allows grandparents to petition the court for visitation, but, usually, only when the parents are divorced. Unlike statutes in some other states, Arizona law does not give grandparents an absolute right to visit.   The court gives great weight to the parents' opinion of what is in the best interests of the child. Graville v. Dodge 195 Ariz. 119, 985 P.2d 604 (Ariz. App. 1999).