Can I Have Visitation With My Grandchildren?
It is emotionally devastating as a grandparent to be shut out from your grandchild or grandchildren. If your adult child or the other parent of your grandchildren do not agree to provide you with access to your grandchildren, you may need to rely upon a Judge to order them to do so. New Jersey provides some help to grandparents in this situation, but the law in this area is nuanced, and the Courts typically defer to the rights of the parents, not grandparents.
Importantly, you must first prove to a Judge that it is necessary that you have visitation with your grandchild to avoid harm to the child. This must be an “identifiable harm” that your specific grandchild will suffer. The harm must be more than general claims that your grandchild will lose potential memories without visitation with you. If you have previously acted as a primary caretaker for your grandchild and developed an important bond between the Judge will consider this to be sufficient to establish that it is in their best interests that you have visitation. Importantly, your burden to prove this to the Judge is at the “preponderance of the evidence” standard. This means that you must prove that it is more likely than not that your grandchild will suffer this identifiable harm without visitation with you.
If you do not meet your burden, the Judge will presume that the parents’ decision making is in the child’s best interests and abide by their wishes. If you do meet your burden, the presumption favoring the decision making of the parents will be overcome and the parents must propose a visitation schedule that they find acceptable. If you do not agree with the schedule, the Judge will decide what schedule is most appropriate for your grandchild’s best interests.
It is important that you provide the Court with specific information permitting a Judge to evaluate the facts in your case. We can help. Please contact our office to schedule a consultation to discuss how we may help you seek visitation with your grandchild.