The SRIS Law Group has attorneys that assist grandparents with custody & visitation rights issues in Virginia. Grandparents can contact us on line or call us at 888-437-7747.

The following are two of the most commonly asked questions by grandparents seeking custody or visitation rights.

Do we as grandparents have visitation rights in Virginia?

Yes, more often than not. Grandparents do have visitation rights in most cases. However, that visitation right is limited by the terms and conditions of the court order if the grandparent wants to take the custodial parent(s) to court. The law in Virginia allows grandparents to join a visitation petition filed by the noncustodial parent or even file an independent petition for the purpose of obtaining a court order for visitation with their grandchildren.

The primary hurdle that a grandparent or grandparents will have to clear is proving that harm will occur to the grandchild or grandchildren in the absence of visitation by the grandparents. Virginia all recognized the presumption that parents have a fundamental right as to the care, custody and management of their child.

Only a compelling interest would be sufficient to allow a court to dictate to a parent that the grandparent has to be able to visit with the grandchild. This is not an easy hurdle to clear because the grandparent has to prove that harm will result to the child’s health and welfare should the court not order the parents to allow visitation with the grandparent.

The Virginia family law attorneys of the SRIS Law Group always caution grandparents that this is not an easy hurdle to clear, even though our Virginia family law attorneys have helped numerous grandparents obtain visitation rights to visit with their grandchildren.