Grandparent and Third-Party Visitation

When a court can order that a child spend time with a grandparent, step-parent or other non-parent over a parent's objection - the constitutional limit set by the Supreme Court, the circumstances in which state statutes allow a petition, the special weight a fit parent's decision receives, and what a petitioner must prove.

Looking for a lawyer rather than a definition? Skip to the state-by-state list of law firms for this.

What it means

Every state has a statute allowing certain non-parents - grandparents in all of them, and in many also step-parents, siblings, other relatives or any person with a parent-like relationship - to petition a court for visitation with a child. The statutes vary widely, but all of them now operate under a constitutional ceiling: a fit parent has a fundamental right to direct the upbringing of their child, including who the child sees, and a court may not override that decision merely because a judge thinks more contact would be good for the child. A parent's decision to limit or end contact with a grandparent is presumed to be in the child's interest, and the petitioner must overcome that presumption with something more than a disagreement about what would be good for the child.

States have responded in different ways. Most limit who may petition and when: typically only after a parent has died, the parents have divorced or separated, the child was born outside marriage, or the child has lived with the petitioner for a substantial period, so that a grandparent cannot sue an intact married family that has simply chosen to cut off contact. Most require the petitioner to prove that the parent's refusal would harm the child, or at least to rebut the presumption in the parent's favor by clear and convincing evidence, before the court reaches the child's best interests. Many require an existing relationship between the petitioner and the child. A few states' broader statutes have been struck down or narrowed by their own courts as inconsistent with the parental right, and a petition filed under a statute in that condition may fail on constitutional grounds alone.

A visitation order for a non-parent is an order for time, not custody: it does not give the grandparent decision-making authority, and it can be modified or ended on a change of circumstances, including a subsequent adoption of the child by a step-parent (which in many states terminates grandparent rights derived from the adopted-out parent). A person who has actually raised the child may have a different and stronger claim under the state's de facto parent, psychological parent or in loco parentis doctrine, which in some states supports custody rather than mere visitation. Costs and fees are usually borne by each party, and some statutes allow the court to award the parent's fees against a petitioner who sues without a reasonable basis.

Where this comes from

When people hire a lawyer for this

A grandparent who has lost contact should have a lawyer assess, before filing, whether the state's statute even allows a petition on the facts and what must be proved, because a petition that fails the threshold may be dismissed and may inflame the estrangement it was meant to cure; mediation is frequently the better first step. A parent served with a petition should not assume the court will defer to them automatically - the presumption has to be asserted and supported. Where the grandparent has been the child's actual caregiver, the claim may be for custody or guardianship rather than visitation, and that is a different case.

Worried about the cost? A lawyer can be hired for one part of a case only (limited-scope representation), may be paid from what a claim recovers (contingency fee), or may be free through a pro bono program or legal aid; a court can also waive its own filing fees.

Find a lawyer for this in your state

Choose your state to see Child Custody law firms in the city where we list the most; your city may be under “other cities”, A to Z. A state marked “Family Law” has no Child Custody listing yet and opens the broader page.

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Related terms

Other entries in the same area of law, each written from the same primary sources.

• AdoptionThe court order that makes a child legally the son or daughter of someone other than the birth parents - the kinds of adoption, whose consent is required, how the birth parents' rights end, the home study and the hearing, and what the order changes about inheritance, records and the child's name.
• Annulment (Void and Voidable Marriage)A court judgment declaring that a marriage was never valid, as distinct from a divorce that ends a valid one - the difference between a void and a voidable marriage, the grounds each state recognizes, who may bring the case, and what an annulment does to property, support and children.
• Child SupportMoney one parent pays the other toward a child's living costs, set in most cases by a state formula rather than by negotiation.
• Common-Law MarriageA marriage formed without a license or ceremony by living together as spouses and holding yourselves out as married - which states still allow it, what has to be proved, why every state recognizes one validly formed elsewhere, and what it means for property, support and inheritance when the relationship ends.
• Dividing Retirement Accounts in Divorce (QDRO)How pensions, 401(k) plans and IRAs are divided at divorce without tax or penalty - what a qualified domestic relations order is and why a divorce decree alone is not enough, the difference between a defined-benefit and a defined-contribution split, the plans that need a different order, and the mistakes that cost a former spouse the share the decree awarded.
• Establishing PaternityThe legal step that makes a man a child's father in law - and signing the hospital form is one of two routes, not a formality.
• Grounds for DivorceThe legal basis a divorce is granted on - and in every state today at least one basis requires proving no wrongdoing by anyone.
• Guardian ad Litem and Custody EvaluatorThe two neutrals a court most often appoints in a contested custody case - what a guardian ad litem does and does not do, how it differs from a child's attorney and from a custody evaluator, who pays, what they may see, and how their reports are used at trial.
• Guardianship of a MinorA court order giving an adult who is not the parent legal authority over a child's care, or over the child's property, without ending the parents' rights - how it differs from custody and adoption, who can be appointed, what the parents keep, and how it ends.
• Legal and Physical CustodyTwo different things the word "custody" covers: who makes major decisions for a child, and where the child lives.
• Legal SeparationA court status in which spouses live apart with binding orders on support, property and children, while remaining married.
• Marital Property DivisionHow a court splits what a couple owns - and "equitable" means fair in that state's judgment, which is not the same as half.
• Modifying a Custody or Support OrderChanging an existing family court order - which usually requires proving something has changed, and never happens by the parents' agreement alone.
• Parenting Plan and VisitationThe written schedule and decision-making rules for a child after separation - and the document courts increasingly require rather than invite.
• Prenuptial AgreementA contract made before marriage about property and support - enforceable in every state, and set aside more often than most people expect.
• Protective Order (Restraining Order)A court order telling one person to stop contacting or coming near another - enforceable by police, and valid across state lines.
• Relocating With a ChildMoving a child away from the other parent - the family law dispute most likely to require the court's permission before the move, not after.
• Spousal Support (Alimony)Payments from one former spouse to the other - discretionary in most states, and taxed differently for instruments made after 2018.
• Termination of Parental RightsThe court order that permanently ends the legal relationship between a parent and child - the grounds a state must prove, the heightened standard of proof and right to counsel, the difference between voluntary relinquishment and an involuntary petition, and what the order does and does not end.

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