Q: Can a grandparent take a custodial parent to court for visitation of her grandson?
I have full custody of my son, and his mother only has visitation rights at my discretion, and the maternal grandmother wants visitation. My son was molested while in the care of his mother, and his mother was and is an alcoholic in an abusive relationship with a history of DV. My son’s maternal grandmother, knowing all of this, still lets her daughter, my sons mom, come around, and did so when my son was over to visit.
The maternal grandmothers residence is not a safe place for my son. Members of his mothers side of the family have said that as well. She currently has a foster baby, an adopted toddler, and an adopted son. She also states she had legal rights to my son’s half brother. However her adopted son, who is 14-15 now, lived at boys town for a year for severe mental illness and ODD and BPD, and acts of violence. he just moved back in recently, and just got arrested for drugs. She can’t control the kids under her roof, can she really get visitation with my son?
A:
A grandparent can file for visitation rights in Nebraska if they meet specific criteria. Whether the Court will grant visitation rights or not depends on the overall facts of the case and whether the grandparent meets the criteria.
The set of statutes on this starts at Neb. Rev. Stat. Section 43-1801.
For example, the statutes state that "Reasonable rights of visitation may be granted when the court determines by clear and convincing evidence that there is, or has been, a significant beneficial relationship between the grandparent and the child, that it is in the best interests of the child that such relationship continue, and that such visitation will not adversely interfere with the parent-child relationship." Neb. Rev. Stat. Section 43-1802.
Vanessa Jean Gorden agrees with this answer
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