Protecting Alabama Grandparents’ Rights
Grandparents can be an extremely important part of a child’s upbringing. For many children, grandparents are like another set of parents, providing wisdom, mentorship and a loving atmosphere. Some grandparents even directly contribute to raising a child. However, when family problems emerge, grandparents can sometimes find themselves on the outside looking in with little hope of being able to continue to be involved in the lives of their loved ones. Fortunately, the law does allow grandparents some recourse to legally secure their visitation rights, and a family law attorney can help you protect those rights when necessary.
, has helped numerous clients with their family law matters in Birmingham, providing exceptional attention to quality and the highest levels of client service. We recognize how important the issues our clients bring to us are, and we remain dedicated to helping you defend your right to be in your grandchild’s life. Attorney Richelle Gossman walks you through every step of the process and fights tirelessly to help you preserve your rights to the maximum possible extent. No matter how complex your case might be, our team can provide you with the highly personalized experience and attention to detail you expect your case to receive.
When Can Grandparents Pursue Visitation?
The laws in Alabama are designed to give grandparents the right to stay involved in the lives of their loved ones while simultaneously preserving the autonomy of a child’s parents. For grandparents, this means that if both parents are objecting to the grandparents’ visitation, then odds are there’s not much as a grandparent you can do. However, you can secure visitation rights in a few situations, including:
- One or both parents have passed away
- The child was abandoned by a parent
- The child was born outside of marriage
- Both parents are no longer married
In order to secure visitation, the grandparents must also demonstrate that their being forbidden from visitation is detrimental to the child, including showing that the relationship between the child and grandparents is beneficial to the child’s upbringing. The court will consider several things when making this determination, including the health of the grandparents, the relationship between the child and the grandparents, and the wishes of any minor children and their parents.
Learn How To See Your Grandchildren Again
To learn more about how grandparents can secure their visitation rights or to get started on your case, contact now. If you’re a grandparent who needs help with securing your visitation rights, call , today at 205-606-6896 and request a free consultation. You can also reach the firm online via email.