Grandparents Rights in Tennessee

Nothing brings more joy to a senior’s golden years than spending time with their grandchildren. Yet grandparents who are not part of the immediate household can lose that precious time for numerous reasons. For more than 35 years, the Law Offices of Adrian H. Altshuler & Associates has worked to assert grandparents’ rights – to secure clear times and terms for when grandparents can maintain healthy and beneficial relationships with their grandchildren.

Who is a grandparent in Tennessee?

Generally, grandparents include biological grandparents, the spouses of biological grandparents, and the parents of an adoptive parent. It’s not just grandparents who have the right to visit with their grandchildren. A biological or adoptive great-grandparent or the spouse thereof can also seek court-approved visitation rights.

Our family lawyers will explain how adoption affects the rights of the parents and grandparents of biological parents.

Grandparents and visitation rights in Franklin County, Tennessee

Normally, grandparents don’t seek a court order to spend time with their children unless a parent objects – though it may be advisable to include the rights of grandparents in any divorce agreement. A grandparent(s) must meet one of the six following criteria to obtain court-approved visitation with their grandchild:

• The parent of the grandchild is deceased.
• The parents of the grandchild are divorced, separated, or were not legally married.
• A parent of a grandchild has been missing for at least six months.
• There is a grandparent visitation order in another state.
• The grandchild lived in the grandparent’s home for at least 12 months and was removed from the home by the parents.
• The grandchild and grandparent have:
  • “Maintained a significant existing relationship for a period of twelve (12) months or more immediately preceding severance or severe reduction of the relationship – and the severing of this relationship will cause the child harm – and there is no showing of abuse or the danger of substantial harm to the grandchild.”

The type of harm that the family law court will consider includes:

• A grandchild is likely to suffer severe emotional harm due to the loss or severe reduction of the relationship that the grandchild has with their grandparent.
• The grandparent functioned as the primary caregiver – and ending or reducing the relationship between the grandchild and grandparent could interrupt the grandchild’s daily needs – causing physical or emotional harm.
• The grandchild and grandparent had a strong existing relationship, and the “loss or severe reduction of the relationship presents the danger of other direct and substantial harm to the child.”

Significant existing relationship

A strong/significant existing relationship with a grandchild exists if:

• The child lived with the grandparent – or the grandparent was a full-time caretaker of the child – for at least six (6) consecutive months.
• The grandparent had frequent visitation with their grandchild for at least one year.

The family court can consider whether there is a significant relationship between a grandparent and a grandchild on its own – without expert evidence. If the parent of a grandchild dies, there is a “rebuttable presumption of substantial harm” to the grandchild based upon the end of the relationship or a severe reduction of the relationship between the grandparent and grandchild.

The court, once a showing of substantial harm to a grandchild is established, will decide “whether grandparent visitation is in the grandchild’s best interests based upon the factors in § 36-6-307.

Reasonable visitation

Grandparents who do obtain visitation rights have the right, at a minimum, to sufficient contact to “reasonably permit a strong and meaningful relationship to be established with the child.”

Reliable negotiation of grandparent visitation plans

During and immediately after divorce, a custodial parent may have reasonable fears that grandparents on the other side will pit the children against him or her. Likewise, a widow or widower may feel the grandparents may cause the children to fixate on the sorrow and loss of their parent’s death. However, rather than cut the grandparents off, the custodial or surviving parent should engage the grandparents in constructive dialogue so that grandparent contact will have the desired effect of nurturing the child rather than causing confusion and distress. A skilled family lawyer from the Law Offices of Adrian H. Altshuler & Associates can guide negotiations to ensure a positive outcome and a manageable visitation plan.

Some of the reasons parents may try to limit the rights of grandparents include:

• Parental interference during the marriage. Though the parents’ marriage is intact, the couple does not allow the grandparents on one side or the other to see the children.
• Post-divorce parental interference. The custodial parent interferes with visitation from the ex-spouse’s parents.
• Interference from a widow or widower. A surviving parent does not allow the parents of the deceased to see the children.

Grandparents and custody rights in Franklin County, Tennessee

Grandparents can also seek custody of grandchildren when:

• The grandchild’s parents divorce – though the preference will be in favor of the parents.
• The parents of the grandchildren are dead – such as when parents die in a car accident.
• The parents of a grandchild abandon, abuse, or neglect a grandchild – such as may occur when parents have substance abuse problems.

Generally, grandparents who seek custody must show that the parents are unfit or unable to care for their grandchildren – or the parents are deceased.

Grandparents and grandchildren need each other. Grandchildren bring lots of joy and love and keep grandparents young. Grandchildren benefit from understanding their roots and have lots of love and guidance in return. This bond should be fostered when tragedy causes the death of a parent, a divorce happens, or a parent is no longer able to care for their child. Rather than ending grandparent/grandchild relationships, families and courts should encourage these bonds to continue. The Law Offices of Adrian H. Altshuler & Associates has experience negotiating agreements, creating manageable visitation plans, and fighting for grandparents’ rights in court.

Call us or use our online form to schedule a free consultation. We represent grandparents, parents, and grandchildren in Franklin, Columbia, and Brentwood, Tennessee.