Grandparents' Rights | The Men's Center for Domestic Resolution, manlawkc

Grandparents' Rights In Missouri

We are dedicated to Cass County, MO Grandparents' Rights!

In many family law cases where young children are involved, there is so much turmoil and effort made by the former spouses to amicably co-parent together that grandparents are often lost in the shuffle. Missouri law does allow grandparents to obtain visitation rights for grandchildren if the parents of the child are divorced or currently in process of a dissolution of marriage.

There are many caveats to obtaining grandparents' rights to visitation, so it is important to select a qualified attorney who understands the importance of the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren. If you are grandparent being denied visitation, please call the Men’s Center for Domestic Resolution at (816) 287-1530. We are dedicated to helping with grandparents’ visitation rights in Cass County, Missouri.

Grandparents’ visitation rights in Missouri are governed my Mo. Rev. Stat. § 452.402. According to the statute, “[T]he court may grant reasonable visitation rights to the grandparents of the child and issue any necessary orders to enforce the decree.” However, there are only a limited number of situations when a Missouri court may award grandparents’ visitation rights. The court may grant grandparent visitation when:

The parents of the child have filed for divorce. A grandparent shall have the right to intervene in any dissolution action solely on the issue of visitation rights. Grandparents shall also have option to file a motion to modify the original custody if the parents are already divorced, to obtain visitation time when visitation has been denied to them; or

2. One parent of the child is no longer living and the surviving parent denies reasonable visitation to a parent of the deceased parent of the child; or

3. The child has lived in the grandparent’s residence for at least six months during the past twenty- four months; and

4. A grandparent is denied visitation with the child for a period exceeding ninety days. Except, if the biological parents of the child are married to each other and live together with the child, a grandparent does not have a right to file for visitation.

As with most custody decisions, courts tend to focus on what is in the best interests of the child when making custody decisions, and grandparent visitation is no different in this aspect. In fact grandparent visitation will only be awarded if the court finds it is in the best interests of the child. The reason why courts will not award grandparents' visitation rights when the parents are married and the child lives with both parents in one residence, is because in this situation the court assumes the parents know what is in the best interests of the child.

If you are a grandparent being unreasonably denied visitation with your child, please call us at the Men's Center for Domestic Resolution to schedule a consultation.