A Grandparent’s Relationship With a Grandchild Can Be Key in That Child’s Development
Video Transcribed: How often should grandparents see their children? Hi, I’m Tulsa Grandparents Rights Attorney, Justin Mosteller. I’m going to spend a couple of minutes discussing this topic. Now, really the right answer to this question is as much as possible. A grandparent’s relationship with a grandchild can be key in that child’s development. Studies have shown repeatedly that the role that grandparents play is irreplaceable, so a continuous and strong relationship with your grandchild is a necessity for that child’s proper development.
Unfortunately, in the context of a grandparent’s rights case, when a parent has made the decision to deny a grandparent contact with the child, you’re stuck with what the court is willing to give for a grandparent’s visitation order.
That may be a bit of a surprise because grandparents do not have parity with parents even after they’ve established a grandparent visitation right. A typical grandparent visitation order is one weekend a month with a share of holiday time.
I have seen courts award more than that, but it really requires some specialized circumstances. It helps if you live very close to the grandchild so that you are right there. It’s also possible to convince a court that daycare is inferior to a grandparent, in which case you’ll see these grandchildren quite a lot. But absent those kinds of circumstances, a court will typically order one weekend a month with a share of holiday time that rotates.
Hopefully, this has answered that question. Again, it’s not a satisfying answer. Because the best answer is as much as possible, daily if possible, but done in such a way that it doesn’t replace the parents as the primary caretaker of a child. If you have any more questions, feel free to seek counsel from our office to speak with an Oklahoma Grandparents Rights Attorney, we’d be happy to help.