questions & answers

Question: We currently have 6 month temporary custody of our grandson. We obtained this in court in mid-January, Our grandson has lived with us since birth but his mom and dad lived with us as follows: his dad until june of 2014 and his mom until Aug. 2014. This is while they fight this out in court. We want our daughter to get custody. How do we go about getting visitation since we have already been being his sole caregiver and support for over 6 months now. We just want documented visitation in court documents. How do we do this?

Answer: Third party rights can be granted if it would be detrimental to the child to remain placed in the care of either legal parent; however third party rights can be very circumstantial. While difficult, in Arizona the Superior Court can grant grandparents reasonable visitation rights. The court may give special weight to the legal parent’s opinion of what serves their child’s best interests and will consider many relevant factors within the case including the historical relationship between the child and the grandparent, the motivation of the grandparent seeking visitation, the quantity of visitation time requested and the potential adverse impact that may have on the child’s customary activities, and if one or both of the child’s parents are deceased. For further clarification on third party rights, visit this page to review A.R.S. § 25-409. To find out how the law applies to your specific situation, you may want to consult with an attorney directly.