I am sometimes asked whether grandparents have any visitation rights to their minor grandchildren under Arizona law. The answer is a resounding “Yes!” These statutory rights date back to 1983 and are now set forth in Arizona Revised Statutes (“ARS”) Section 25-409, titled “Third party rights.” Many grandparents don’t need an official court visitation order because they see their grandchildren from time to time as a part of normal family relationships with the parents. However, sometimes a court order may be desired.
The conditions under which the court may grant visitation to a grandparent are: (1) one of the legal parents is dead or missing at least three months; OR (2) the child was born out of wedlock and the legal parents are not married at the time of the grandparents’ petition for visitation; OR (3) the parents were married but have been divorced for at least three months.
There are many additional matters and details in the statute which I have not covered, such as “in loco parentis” rights, which apply when a person, grandparent or not, has such a significant and substantial relationship to the child that they can be considered to be “in the place of a parent.”
If you are thinking about trying to obtain a legal order for visitation with one or more of your grandchildren, please contact my office to discuss the matter further.