Grandparents’ Rights

Our Skilled Clarksville Attorneys Can Help You

Grandparents are often involved in the care and upbringing of their grandchildren. However, when people divorce, most only consider parental custody rights. Laws have changed fairly recently regarding what rights grandparents have when it comes to seeing and interacting with their grandchildren. More courts are ruling in grandparents’ favors if parents have denied them visitation.

Visitation Laws

In Tennessee, it is up to the grandparent to prove the child needs them and would benefit from their visits. While a child may miss a grandparent if they are denied visitation, this alone is not enough to win visitation rights. A grandparent seeking more contact with a child must demonstrate one of the following factors:

• At least one parent is deceased
• The parents are divorced, separated, or were never married
• At least one parent has been missing for at least six months
• A court in another state ordered grandparent visitation
• The child lived with the grandparent for at least one year and was removed by the parents
• The child and grandparent have shared a significant bond for at least one year and separating will harm the child

A grandparent must prove to the court that the separation will cause significant emotional harm or will put the child in danger or risk of harm.

Why Consult a Grandparent's Rights Lawyer?

Because divorce can be a contentious time, the custodial parent might deny visitation rights to their former spouse’s parents. This denial could be a secondhand revenge tactic against their ex-spouse, or it could be they no longer feel beholden to people unrelated to them by blood or marriage. If you’re being denied the right to see your grandchild after a divorce, you need a great grandparent's rights attorney who can convince the court that seeing you is in your grandchild’s best interests. A court will usually defer to parental rights first, so you need to make sure you have a lawyer who knows how to defend your rights as a grandparent.

If you’re ready to pursue a case, talk to one of our Clarksville grandparent's rights attorneys. You can reach us at (931) 361-4477 or by filling out our online form with details about your situation.