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Grandparent Rights and Non-Parent Custody in Arizona By itself, the status of a grandparent (or great-grandparent) is insufficient to assure visitation rights under Arizona law. In order to secure a court order that establishes a right of regular contact with your grandchild, you must demonstrate to the Court that your relationship with the child is in the child’s best interests and it is a significant and meaningful relationship. You must also show that granting legal protection to the relationship is in the child's best interests. A court will consider the factors set forth in A.R.S. §24-409 in determining whether visitation rights shall be ordered to legally ensure a grandparent's relationship with their grandchild. http://www.azleg.state.az.us/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/ars/25/00409.htm&Title=25&DocType=ARS
Preliminarily, the court must find that the marriage of the child's parents has been dissolved for at least three months; a parent of the child has been deceased or has been missing for at least three months; or that the child was born out of wedlock. In considering whether an award of visitation is in the child's best interests, the court will consider factors such as: The historical relationship, if any, between the child and the person seeking visitation; the motivation of the requesting party in seeking visitation; the motivation of the person denying visitation; the quantity of visitation time requested; the potentially adverse impact that visitation will have on the child's customary activities; and, if one or both of the child's parents are deceased, the benefit in maintaining an extended family relationship. If logistically possible and appropriate, a court will order grandparent's visitation to occur when the child is residing or spending time with the parent through whom the grandparent claims a right of access to the child. If a parent is unable to have the child reside or spend time with that parent, the court will order visitation by a grandparent to occur when that parent would have had that opportunity. Furthermore, a grandparent or other person may wish to establish custody (as opposing to visitation) of a child whose home situation is seriously troubled or unstable. We assist grandparents and relatives or other adults who have played a significant role in a child's life concerning child custody under Arizona's "in loco parentis" statutes. Under Arizona Revised Statute §25-415, a non-parent may petition for custody of a minor child if the person filing the petition stands "in loco parentis" to the child. A person stand "in loco parentis" (Latin for "in the place of the parent") to a child if that person has been treated as a parent by the child and has formed a meaningful parental relationship with the child for a substantial period of time. Further, the court must find that it would be significantly detrimental to the child to remain or be placed in the custody of either of the child's living legal parents. The court must also find that another court has not entered or approved an order concerning the child's custody within one year before the non-parent files their petition unless there is reason to believe the child's present environment may seriously endanger the child's physical, mental, moral or emotional health. The court must also find that one of the legal parents is deceased; that the child's legal parents are not married to each other at the time the petition is filed; or that there is a pending proceeding for dissolution of marriage or for legal separation of the legal parents at the time the petition is filed. If a person other than a child's legal parent is seeking custody, there is a rebuttable presumption that it is in the child's best interest to award custody to a legal parent because of the physical, psychological and emotional benefit to the child to be reared by the child's legal parent. To rebut this presumption that assumption, the non-parent must show by clear and convincing evidence that awarding custody to a legal parent is not in the child's best interests. The court may also grant a person who stands "in loco parentis" to a child, including grandparents and great-grandparents, and who meets the requirements of A.R.S. §25-409 (Arizona's grandparents statute) reasonable visitation rights to the child on a finding that the visitation is in the child's best interests and that one of the legal parents is deceased or has been missing at least three months; the child's legal parents are not married to each other at the time the petition is filed; or there is a pending proceeding for dissolution of marriage or for legal separation of the legal parents at the time the petition is filed. Typically, the types of cases motivating a non-parent to seek custody or visitation with a child involve ill-treatment of a child, inappropriate or unsafe living conditions, a parent's abuse of drugs or alcohol, mental health issues, or an attempt to prevent a relationship between the child and an individual who have played a critical role in a child's life. These cases require a thorough, professional presentation to the court as there are so many significant factors to flesh out in pursuing court orders that necessarily interfere with a legal parent's rights. If you have questions please don't hesitate to contact Jennifer W. Shick and Shick Law Offices L.L.C. today for a free initial consultation. We're here to help!
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