Grandparent’s Rights in Arizona

In Arizona, grandparents (and other third-parties with a close relationship to the children) have legal rights. Arizona Revised Statutes, § 25-409 is the Grandparent Visitation and Third-Party Visitation / Custody statute. However, these rights tend to be limited as parents’ rights usually take priority. If you want to establish grandparent’s rights or you wish to learn more about grandparent visitation or custody, our firm can help.

Arizona courts focus on the best interests of the child in any grandparent rights matter. You may file a petition for court-ordered visitation rights if one or more of these conditions are met:

• One of the legal parents is deceased or has been missing at least three months.
• The child was born out of wedlock and the child’s legal parents are not married to each other at the time the petition is filed.
• The marriage of the parents of the child has been dissolved for at least three months.

After filing a petition for grandparent’s visitation rights, you will still need to prove to the court that visitation is in the child’s best interest.

When determining the best interests of the child, the court will look at the following factors:

• The historical relationship between the grandparent and child
• The amount of time the grandparent or parent has requested for visitation
• The motives of the grandparents requesting visitation and the motives of the parent(s) objecting to visitation
• Whether or not it will benefit the child (and to what extent) to maintain a relationship with the grandparent
• The wishes of the legal parents regarding grandparent visitation

If you have questions about or need assistance with a grandparents rights issue, please contact our family law attorney – Nichole Oblinger. Nichole is available at (623) 526-5597.