Grandparents Rights in Arizona

There are some situations in Arizona under which grandparents might need to seek custody of their grandchildren or adopt them. In other cases, grandparents might be prevented from seeing their grandchildren by the children’s parents.

Arizona law includes a statute that allows grandparents to seek visitation rights with their grandchildren even if a parent objects. Each of these types of situations will likely require the help of an experienced family law attorney.

The lawyers at the Law Office of Daniel Hutto are experienced in handling grandparents rights cases and can explain the options that might be available to you based on the facts of your case.

Grandparents’ Visitation Rights in Arizona

Under , a person other than a parent, including a grandparent, may petition the court for  To do this, they must follow the process as outlined in . Under this statute, when a grandparent files for visitation rights with a grandchild, the court may grant the petition if it finds that visitation with the grandparent would be in the child’s best interests, and when any of the following are true:

    • One of the child’s parents is deceased or has been missing for three or more months.
    • The child’s parents are unmarried, and the child was born out of wedlock.
    • The child’s parents have been divorced for three or more months.
    • If the grandparent has served in loco parentis, the child’s parents must have a divorce or legal separation case pending.
The court must find that visitation would be in the child’s best interests. In making this determination, the court must consider the following factors: