Grandparents Rights In Colorado

Grandparents are well-known for adoring their grandkids, and many grandparents play significant roles in their lives. When a grandchild’s family splits up or a parent passes away, grandparents’ capacity to spend time with their grandchildren can suffer. Many grandparents wonder if they still have the right to see their grandkids when a parent loses custody. Grandparents rights in Colorado are explained in this article.

Grandparent Visitation Rights In Colorado

There is no need for grandparents to seek court-ordered visitation when parents freely enable grandparents to see their grandkids. When there is or has been a custody case involving the children, grandparents may request visitation privileges under grandparents rights in Colorado. When any of the following events occur, grandparents’ visiting cases may arise:

• The parents of the child divorce, separate, or seek an annulment.
• The child is placed outside of the parent’s house after a court grants legal custody to someone other than the parents (excluding adoption).
• The child’s parent, who happens to be the grandparent’s child, passes away.

When any of the above circumstances occur, grandparents can request visitation, regardless of whether custody is an issue in a pending court case. Grandparents who are seeking visiting privileges can do so in paternity cases.

Grandparents who want to see their grandchildren must submit a visitation motion in the district court of the child’s home county. They can file the motion in an ongoing custody case or in a new case if there is no active custody matter. An affidavit should be attached to the motion, detailing the events that give the grandparent the right to request visitation.

A copy of the motion must be served on the person who has legal custody of the child by the grandmother. Grandparents can only visit their grandchildren once every two years unless there is a compelling reason, such as a parent’s death or the parents’ divorce. Great-grandparents cannot pursue visitation privileges in Colorado, unlike in certain other states.

Grandparent Visitation Laws In Colorado

When it comes to grandparent visitation rights, courts must consider whether the requested access is in the best interests of the kid. A judge must also balance a parent’s objection to grandparent visitation with the advantages of the grandchild-grandparent relationship.

When a court considers whether or not to allow grandparent visits, it assumes that the child’s parent is acting in the child’s best interests. When a fit parent opposes a grandparent’s request for visitation, the court usually defers to the grandparent’s choice. The grandparent must demonstrate that the parent’s visiting decision is not in the best interests of the kid. Grandparents must also demonstrate that the visitation schedule they desire is suitable for the child.

When considering whether grandparent visitation is in the best interests of a child, judges consider a number of considerations. Courts want to make sure that the sought visitation is in the best interests of the child.

The maternal grandparents were denied visitation by a judge because they frequently ridiculed the child’s father during visits, causing stress to the children and weakening the father’s authority. Another judge rejected visitation to a grandmother who wanted to take her grandchildren to church because her daughter refused to do so; grandparents cannot utilize visitation to override a parent’s religious decisions.

In circumstances where the grandparent’s kid is unable to exercise visitation, courts may be more likely to approve grandmother visits. If a father relocates for work but his parents remain in the area, grandparent visitation in lieu of the father’s can assist the youngster to retain bonds with both sides of the family.

A court ruling terminating a parent’s visitation rights does not imply that the grandparent’s visitation rights are also terminated. If a court canceled a mother’s visitation time due to wrongdoing, the maternal grandparent’s visitation could continue.

Grandparent Custody Rights In Colorado

When a judge judges that a child’s natural or adoptive parents are unfit to have legal custody, the court might award custody to a grandmother. The grandparent must be willing and capable of caring for the child, as well as have adequate parenting skills.

A court must first make a rigorous search for any live natural or adoptive parents who could take custody of the kid before granting grandmother custody. If a single mother dies, for example, the court will look for the child’s father as a possible caretaker before granting custody to grandparents.

When a kid is removed from a parent’s home due to the parent’s misconduct or incapacity to care for the child, the Colorado Department of Human Services will give precedence to the child’s grandparent over anyone else. When the parents are unable to have custody, grandparents have first priority for temporary custody.

Visitation Rights After Adoption

A grandparent’s court-ordered visitation is not terminated by a stepparent’s adoption. If a paternal grandparent has visitation with a grandchild and the kid’s mother’s new spouse adopts the child, the paternal grandparent can still see the child. If, on the other hand, the child’s father’s custody rights were terminated by a court, the paternal grandparent’s visit was automatically terminated.

Grandparent visitation ends when a child is adopted by someone other than the child’s stepparent. The adoption severs not only the child’s ties with his or her natural parents but also all of the natural parents’ relatives. Grandparents rights in Colorado is terminated even if the child is adopted by a cousin, aunt, or uncle. A Colorado judge granted grandparents’ visitation after a maternal aunt and uncle adopted a child after the child’s parents died.

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