Arizona Grandparents seeking visitation, custody, or adoption of their grandchildren have restricted rights. Grandparents play a vital part in the upbringing and caring of their grandkids in the current culture. Furthermore, in today’s economy, grandparents may be in a better financial position to satisfy their grandchildren’s fundamental demands and give them essential luxuries.
The Arizona legislature amended the state’s statutes in 1983 to give grandparents and great-grandparents a legal right to visitation. Grandparents may petition the court for visitation privileges under ARS §25-409 if it is in the best interests of the child to have visitation with the grandparent and one of the following conditions is met:
- One of the child’s parents has been deceased or missing for at least 3 months, and the grandparent is the parent of the child’s deceased or missing parent
- The child’s parents were never married
- One of the child’s parents has been deceased or missing for at least 3 months, and the grandparent is the parent of the child’s deceased or missing parent
Arizona law compels the court to consider all “relevant criteria,” including five statutory ones while assessing the child’s best interests.
- The historical relationship, if any, between the child and grandparent
- The grandparent’s motivation for seeking visitation rights
- The parent’s motivation for denying visitation
- The amount of visitation sought by the grandparent and any impact this may have on the child’s life and activities
- The benefit of maintaining visitation with extended family members in cases where one or both parents are deceased
If the grandparent fails to meet one of these standards, the custody petition will be dismissed by the Family Court.
The court’s first concern in any child custody issue in Arizona is the kid’s best interests. The child’s best interests are presumed to be served by remaining with their legal parent.
Furthermore, parents have the fundamental freedom to raise their children how they see suitable under state and federal law. In custody cases, there is a presumption that fit parents will act in their children’s best interests. This means that a grandparent or other third-party seeking custody must be able to overcome the assumption that the child’s best interests are best served by remaining with the parent.
Disclaimer: Every effort was made at the time of publication to ensure the accuracy of this publication. Individual circumstances will vary, and the law may have changed since publication, thus it is not intended to provide legal advice or imply a certain outcome. Readers considering legal action should seek legal advice from an experienced attorney to learn about current laws and how they can affect their case.
