What Are Grandparents’ Rights With Regards to Visitation in Texas?

The family unit is vital to society, providing love, stability, and shaping values that foster growth and cooperation. As such, questions often arise about the rights and responsibilities of family members, especially when it comes to visitation. One common query is, “Can a parent deny a grandparent visitation in Texas?” It’s essential to understand the legal framework surrounding this issue to navigate the delicate balance between a parent’s rights and a grandparent’s desire for involvement. Knowing the laws governing grandparent visitation can help ensure family relationships are respected while also safeguarding the best interests of the child.

Undoubtedly, you cannot overstate the importance of the family unit, neither in the present nor at any point in history. However, that does not mean that the family unit has not undergone some degree of change over the years. The family unit comprised a mother, father, and children living in the same household in prior generations. Commonly known as the nuclear family, this structure represents the typical image people envision when imagining a family. This is true whether or not we grew up in this kind of environment with a family structure that looks like the one I just described. Whether or not this was the ideal scenario to raise a family is a different question altogether. However, statistics show that the United States comprised more families like this in generations past than any other.

Evolving family dynamics and the rise of grandparent rights

In the past few generations, we have seen the dynamics of family life in the United States begin to change. No-fault divorces and a host of other changes brought about in the legal system have created scenarios where the nuclear family is fading into the background as far as the most prevalent make-up for families in our country. Single-parent households, households headed by adults who are not married, and households headed by persons caring for children who are not their biological kin are becoming more and more prevalent. With that said, we have seen the impact felt in many areas of society and most notably in the world of family law.

Grandparent rights is a growing movement in Texas in other states to honor and codify the ability of grandparents to be able to take an active and involved role in raising their grandchildren. Grandparents being able to play a part in raising children has always been a secondary right compared to the parents of those children. Grandparents can have a role in the lives of their grandchildren only due to the permission of their parents. Can a parent deny a grandparent visitation in Texas? Once that permission from the parents comes to an end, the grandparents typically would have no legal right to interact with their grandchildren.

Exploring grandparents’ visitation rights in Texas

This is no different from if you and your parents had a falling out and did not allow your parents to see your children anymore. While this is not a pleasant scenario to think about, it is a reasonably common one considering the nature of families in 2020. As a practicing family law attorney, I have faced many families encountering difficult circumstances regarding raising children in extended family scenarios. Fortunately, our office has also been there to be a part of the creation of solutions that work well for all involved- especially grandparents.

In today’s blog post from the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, I would like to discuss grandparents’ rights about visiting their grandchildren. Can a parent deny a grandparent visitation in Texas? This is a subject that is near and dear to the hearts of many grandparents in Texas who may have lost contact with their grandkids because of a decision from one or both of their grandchild’s parents. While it is not always easy to lose time with your grandkids, if you are a grandparent, you can take heart that the state of Texas does provide for some rights concerning visiting with your grandkids. I want to discuss this topic with you today and go into a real-life scenario involving former clients of our office and how things worked out very well for these grandparents and their grandchildren.

Parents are given preference regarding their children and visitation issues

Let’s start at the beginning. Even if you as a grandparent have a longstanding and terrific relationship with your grandkids, you need to know that parents in Texas are given primary responsibility for making decisions in their best interest. We, as family law attorneys, are sometimes the bearers of bad news in this regard. The reality of the circumstances is that parents can deny grandparents Visitation under most circumstances for significant reasons or pretty much no reason at all. Grandparents do not have a codified right in Texas to visit with their grandkids if the parents do not want that to occur.

Can a parent deny a grandparent visitation in Texas? If you’re a grandparent reading this, feeling pessimistic or upset is understandable. However, it’s important to know that you do have options within the family courts of Texas. Your family’s specific circumstances will play a significant role in determining whether you can receive visitation rights to your grandkids after a family law case. In any grandparent’s rights case concerning visitation, it’s crucial to recognize that a family law court presumes that your child and their spouse, if applicable, are fit and able to act in the child’s best interests regarding access for a third party like yourself.

Legal standing and options for grandparents seeking visitation rights in Texas

Furthermore, grandparents do not have the mechanical ability even to bring a lawsuit to assert visitation rights under Texas family law. The most likely scenario that would allow you to have the standing necessary to obtain a grandparents visitation rights case would be that you were in direct control and care of your grandchildren for at least six months before filing the lawsuit. These circumstances involve evidence demonstrating that you and your spouse, as grandparents, have maintained continuous and long-lasting contact with your grandchildren. This contact is crucial because abruptly taking it away from the grandkids could potentially harm them.

Additionally, there are other ways for you to get before a judge to assert your Visitation rights as a grandparent. Over and above asking for Visitation rights, you may be able to present a lawsuit to a judge requesting that you become a conservator of the grandchild. There is a clear distinction between having mere visitation rights to your grandchild and having conservatorship rights as well. Conservatorship rights mean that you would become like a parent to the child and hold legal rights and duties to care for and make decisions on behalf of your grandchild’s best interest. Whether or not you’re interested, it’s all the more reason to keep reading today’s blog post!

Legal options for grandparents seeking conservatorship in Texas

Suppose your grandchildren find themselves in a situation where their circumstances would harm their physical health or emotional well-being. In that case, you may be able to bring this sort of lawsuit requesting primary conservatorships over one of your grandchildren. You can initiate the lawsuit even if your grandchild isn’t in this position, as long as your child and their spouse consent to filing the lawsuit. If your child and their spouse are not going to offer any impediment to you filing the case, you should have the legal right to go ahead and file suit.

Additionally, if you have had substantial past contact with your grandchildren, a family court may grant you the ability to intervene in a family suit. You can show that both of the child’s parents would be ill-suited to be named as joint managing conservators of the child. I realize that this explanation can be a little bulky so let’s take a paragraph and explain what I mean.

Imagine that your child and their significant other were going through a child custody case. You had been denied, as a grandparent, the ability to visit with your grandchildren over the past few weeks due to the evil nature of this child custody case. However, you have had substantial past contact with the grandkids, and you even had been the primary caretaker for them for much of the past year. Under these types of circumstances, you may be able to file an intervening lawsuit within the preexisting child custody case to act as a party on behalf of yourself as the grandparent.

Importance of legal representation for grandparent visitation cases in Texas

As you can see, there are multiple ways for you to skin a cat when it comes to Gaining time guaranteed by a court in Texas with your grandkids. However, what you should have also learned from this discussion is that it is challenging for a person who is not an expert in family law in Texas to handle situations like this on their own. As a result, I highly recommend that you hire an experienced family law attorney to represent you in one of these kinds of cases.

I realize that you may have spent your entire life never having waited into a legal case of any kind, and you may not be all that interested in doing so right now. The thought of hiring an attorney, whatever your opinion on attorneys is, may be the farthest thing from your mind at this period; however, I can tell you from personal experience in dealing with cases like these that to succeed in a grandparent’s visitation or conservatorship case that having an attorney by your side can make a huge difference. Going to a law library and looking up some books on family law will not prepare you sufficiently to proceed with a case you need to file.

Now that we have walked through grandparent visitation rights in Texas, I would like to provide you with some context from a story that I would like to share regarding grandparents’ ex-successful attempts to gain visitation rights to their grandchildren.

A real-life example of grandparents gaining visitation rights to their grandkids

A few years ago, our law office had the opportunity to represent two grandparents in their lawsuit to gain Visitation rights to their grandkids. It was an unfortunate situation for their grandkids as the father of the grandkids was serving time in prison; the mother, while not in prison yet, was facing similar charges levied against the father, and she too would be going to jail soon. The father of the kids was the son of our clients. The children lived with an aunt here in the Houston area, and our clients lived in East Texas.

Our clients filed a lawsuit showing their substantial past contact with their grandkids from the time they were born up until a few weeks before filing the lawsuit. These grandparents had spent the better part of 10 years caring for these kids on a day-in and day-out basis before the mother suddenly cut off all contact between the kids and the grandparents. The judge ordered mediation after a brief hearing, requiring the parties to attempt to settle their claim before proceeding to trial.

The grandparents we represented secured specific visitation periods and mandatory weekly phone calls with their grandkids. Initially, they felt they hadn’t gained enough time, but after reflecting, they were thrilled with the progress the lawsuit had achieved. Eventually, the grandparents returned to court and gained conservatorship rights over the grandkids with the parents’ consent. We were fortunate to be part of this success story, where dedicated grandparents turned a challenging situation into a positive outcome for their families. If you’re facing a similar struggle, remember that there’s often hope for resolution.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the family unit is foundational to society, promoting love, stability, and personal growth. However, complex questions, such as “can a parent deny a grandparent visitation in Texas?” highlight the intricate dynamics within families. Texas law acknowledges the importance of maintaining grandparent-grandchild relationships while also upholding parental rights. Balancing these interests requires a clear understanding of legal principles. By thoughtfully navigating these complexities, families can maintain strong connections, respect legal boundaries, and ensure the well-being of everyone involved.

Questions about the material contained in today’s blog post? Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan

If you have any questions about the material contained in today’s blog post please do not hesitate to contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. Our licensed family law attorneys offer free-of-charge consultation six days a week in person, over the phone, and via video. During these consultations, you can learn more about Texas family law and how filing a divorce or child custody case may impact your family circumstances.

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