Grandparents often feel that they have an absolute right to see their grandchildren, even if the parents of the children do not want the grandparents involved. While children often benefit from having relationships with their grandparents and other extended family members, grandparents do not automatically have a legal right to do. Only parents have a legal right to custody of their children. A parent’s access to their children will only be limited or denied if it is shown to be in the best interests of the children. Grandparents do not have a similar right.
In Matter of Wilson v. McGlinchey, the New York Court of Appeals considered whether the visitation rights of grandparents should have been terminated. The mother of the child had been estranged from her parents, the grandparents of the child, well before the child was born. When the child was 4 months old, the grandparents petitioned Family Court for visitation. The child’s parents were vehemently against it. However, the parties eventually reached a visitation agreement such that the grandparents were permitted 8 hours per month with the child. The agreement was incorporated into a Family Court order.
Several months after the order was established, the parents filed a petition with Family Court to terminate visitation between their daughter and the grandparents. The parents alleged that circumstances had changed such that visitation with the grandparents was no longer in the best interests of the child. The parents noted that the visitations did not go well, that she had difficulties getting the grandparents to leave after visitation, and that the visitations upset the child. The Family Court denied the parents’ petition to discontinue the grandparent visitation, and the parents appealed.