Q&A with Kaine Fisher, Director of Rose Law Group Family Law Department
“My son recently, and unexpectedly, passed away and his ex-wife is refusing to let me see or even communicate with my grand-children. What are my rights as a grandparent in Arizona?”
An adage goes that grandparents are always better with their grandchildren because they get to give all of the love, but have only a portion of the responsibility. Generally, this adage rings true, with grandparents often playing a vitally important (and fun) role in their grandchildren’s lives. What many grandparents don’t realize (and hopefully never have to) is that a dissolution of the relationship of the children’s parents could wreak havoc on their family dynamic. Unfortunately for grandparents, “until death do us part,” or even marriage to begin with, continues to be a less likely prospect for their children’s generation. Many grandparents feel helpless when there is family upheaval and are concerned they may lose access to their grandchildren forever if their own child loses decision-making or parenting time rights, is imprisoned, or worst yet, passes away. Fortunately, the Arizona legislature strongly believes in keeping grandparents involved in children’s lives and has worked hard to establish a mechanism for grandparents to take pro-active measures for seeking visitation rights for their grandchildren regardless of any acrimony between the children’s parents or regardless of the relationship they have with their child or their child’s spouse.
Arizona Revised Statutes § 25-409(C) provides a mechanism specifically designed for grandparents (as well as great-grandparents and other third-parties in interest) to petition the court for visitation rights with their grandchildren. Those circumstances which warrant a grandparent obtaining legal decision-making authority or guardianship is a discussion better left for another time. Specifically, regarding visitation, grandparents can be awarded visitation rights after they file a petition in court (with the same court who entered previous legal decision-making and parenting time orders with respect to the children’s parents, or if none, in the county in which the children reside) assuming one of the following has occurred:
