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GRANDPARENTS' RIGHTS IN MEDINA, OHIO
In specific situations, grandparents may have the right to request and receive court ordered companionship or visitation rights with their grandchildren. Attorney Gerald D. Piszczek specializes in all types of family law, including working with grandparents in circumstances that may allow for them to file for custody of their grandchildren if the parents are unsuitable. Understanding the intricacies of custodial law and your rights as grandparents can be tricky to navigate on your own. Our firm has dedicated over four decades to working with clients during these types of emotionally sensitive cases to help them to understand what options may be available to them. Contact Gerald D. Piszczek, Attorney at Law at 330-723-2200 for a free initial phone consultation to learn how we can help.
Companionship and visitation
Depending on the circumstances, you may have the right to seek companionship or visiting in situations, including the following:
- In a divorce, dissolution of marriage, legal separation, annulment, or child support proceeding that involves a child, the court may grant reasonable companionship or visitation rights to any grandparent, if all of the following apply:
- The grandparent files a motion with the court seeking companionship or visitation rights (The Motion can be filed either before or after the decree or final order).
- The court determines that the grandparent has an interest in the welfare of the child.
- The court determines that the granting of the companionship or visitation rights is in the best interest of the child.
- If either the father or mother of an unmarried minor child is deceased, an appropriate court may grant the parents and other relatives of the deceased father or mother reasonable companionship or visitation rights with respect to the minor child during the child’s minority if the parent or other relative files a complaint requesting reasonable companionship or visitation rights and if the court determines that the granting of the companionship or visitation rights is in the best interest of the minor child.
- If a child is born to an unmarried woman, the parents of the woman and any relative of the woman may file a complaint requesting the court of common pleas of the county in which the child resides to grant them reasonable companionship or visitation rights with the child. If a child is born to an unmarried woman and if the father of the child establishes his parental rights the father may file a complaint requesting that the court of appropriate jurisdiction grant him reasonable parenting time rights with the child and the parents of the father and any relative of the father may file a complaint requesting that the court grant him reasonable companionship or visitation rights with the child. (The court may grant the requested parenting time rights or companionship or visitation rights if it determines that the granting of the parenting time rights or companionship or visitation rights is in the best interest of the child.)
filing for child custody
In addition, depending upon the circumstances, grandparents or other may be able to file for custody of a child if the parents are unsuitable. This is a complicated area of the law, and the overview provided is meant to be general in nature. It is best to discuss your specific circumstances and goals in detail with an attorney that specializes in this area of the law. Attorney Gerald D. Piszczek is ready to assist with your case - simply give us a call at 330-723-2200 to see how we can help.