Grandparents in Virginia, Maryland & Massachusetts have rights regarding visitation & custody.  Grandparents in some circumstances may be awarded custody of their grandchildren or to be awarded court-mandated visitation with their grandchildren.

Courts in Virginia, Maryland & Massachusetts grant visitation or custody to grandparents only when certain conditions provided in the state statutes are met.

Conditions for a grandparent to attain custody differ from those conditions required for visitation rights in Virginia, Maryland & Massachusetts.

A grandparent in Virginia, Maryland & Massachusetts should be familiar with the conditions for either custody or visitation before determining whether to file a petition to request either from a court of law.

Grandparents Rights

Are you a grandparent trying to get custody or visitation with your grandchild in Maryland, Massachusetts or Virginia?

Are you trying to exercise your rights as a grandparent in Maryland, Massachusetts or Virginia?

If you need help with exercising your rights as a grandparent in Maryland, Massachusetts or Virginia, then contact the SRIS Law Group Maryland, Massachusetts or Virginia grandparent’s rights lawyers for help.

Our Maryland, Massachusetts & Virginia grandparents’ rights attorneys will do their best to help you.

THE FOLLOWING ARE SOME OF THE LAWS IN VA, MD & MA:

• § 20-124.1.

“Person with a legitimate interest” shall be broadly construed and includes, but is not limited to grandparents, stepparents, former stepparents, blood relatives and family members provided any such party has intervened in the suit or is otherwise properly before the court. The term shall be broadly construed to accommodate the best interest of the child. A party with a legitimate interest shall not include any person (i) whose parental rights have been terminated by court order, either voluntarily or involuntarily, (ii) whose interest in the child derives from or through a person whose parental rights have been terminated, either voluntarily or involuntarily, including but not limited to grandparents, stepparents, former stepparents, blood relatives and family members, if the child subsequently has been legally adopted, except where a final order of adoption is entered pursuant to § 63.2-1241, or (iii) who has been convicted of a violation of subsection A of § 18.2-61, § 18.2-63, subsection B of § 18.2-366, or an equivalent offense of another state, the United States, or any foreign jurisdiction, when the child who is the subject of the petition was conceived as a result of such violation.

• § 9-102. Petition by grandparents for visitation.

An equity court may:

(1) consider a petition for reasonable visitation of a grandchild by a grandparent; and

(2) if the court finds it to be in the best interests of the child, grant visitation rights to the grandparent.

• ALM GL ch. 119, § 39D.  Visitation Rights of Grandparents of Unmarried Minor Children; Petition.

If the parents of an unmarried minor child are divorced, married but living apart, under a temporary order or judgment of separate support, or if either or both parents are deceased, or if said unmarried minor child was born out of wedlock whose paternity has been adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction or whose father has signed an acknowledgement of paternity,

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