Grandparents Rights' to Visitation

DuPage County Family Lawyers and Divorce Attorneys Helping Families Stay Together

The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act allows grandparents and great-grandparents of a minor child (one year old or older) to petition the court for visitation. They can do so with or without a pending divorce or custody case by filing a petition for visitation in the county in which the child resides.

Grandparents must meet certain conditions however, and the court does not automatically grant grandparents visitation. If you are seeking to maintain contact with your grandchild and you'd like more information about your rights as a grandparent under Illinois law, contact the Oak Brook law office of Kathryn L. Harry & Associates, P.C. at 630-472-9400. Your initial consultation with an experienced family law attorney is free.

An Overview of Grandparents' Rights to Visit a Grandchild

A grandparent can ask the court to order visitation if they have been unreasonably denied visitation by a parent AND at least one of the following conditions exists:

• The child's other parent is dead or has been missing for at least 3 months
• A parent is mentally incompetent
• A parent has been in jail during the 3 month period preceding the filing of the petition.

A grandparent can ask for visitation in conjunction with a divorce proceeding if at least one parent consents to visitation.

Grandparents may ask for visitation with grandchildren born out of wedlock. They cannot seek visitation with a child being placed for adoption, unless the child is being adopted by a relative.

Do You Need a Lawyer?

Illinois visitation law presumes that the decision of a "fit" parent are not harmful to their child's mental, physical, or emotional health. If they have denied visitation, it's up to the family law attorney working for the grandparents to prove that the parent's actions are harmful to the child.

The court considers a number of factors in making its decision. A family law attorney at Kathryn L. Harry & Associates, P.C. can explain these factors and help you build a strong case. The firm's family lawyers have more than 15 years of experience helping families in DuPage, Cook, Kane and Will County in Illinois.

Contact their Oak Brook law office at 630-472-9400 to arrange a free initial consultation.

For more information, please see the Illinois grandparent visitation law (PDF)