Helping Wisconsin Grandparents Negotiate the Rights & Responsibilities Regarding Their Grandchildren
Family Attorneys Advocating for Grandparent Rights
Grandparents may seek “visitation” or “placement” with their grandchildren if they can establish they have or have had an ongoing relationship with the grandchildren and a court finds it is in their grandchildren’s “best interest” for the children to spend time with their grandparents, even over the objection of one or both parents.
Grandparent Rights to See Grandchildren
Usually, grandparents whose grandchildren have their time allocated between their parents in a visitation or placement schedule see their grandchildren during their respective children’s visitation or placement periods. If one or both parents fail to permit the grandparents to see their grandchildren, a court will determine if visitation or placement with the grandparents is in the children’s “best interest,” balancing the right of parents to make decisions about their children with the importance of fostering the child’s relationships with grandparents, if they have a strong connection to the children. However, great weight is given to the parents to make decisions about the ” best interests” of their children.
Unrelated adults with a strong connection to children who are not their biological grandchildren or great grandchildren can also ask a court to award them “visitation” time if they can show that they have a “parent-like” relationship with the children and satisfy the same criteria as required of grandparents.
Extended family members such as aunts, uncles and cousins, and even unrelated friends can play very important roles in the lives of children. Family courts recognize that because the loss of those relationships may have a negative impact on children, the court can award visitation to such persons even over the objection of one or both parents if the court finds that doing so would be in the child’s “best interest.”
Wisconsin Family Code & Financial Support
The Family Code also addresses unique situations that arise in the lives of children. Grandparents whose child died while their children were minors may have rights to see their grandchildren under the Wisconsin statutes. If a parent is unable to support their child, a court has the authority to order the grandparents to contribute to the financial support of their grandchildren.
We Help Keep Important Relationships Intact
We have experienced family law attorneys at both our Milwaukee and Madison offices. If you need representation in a grandparent visitation matter, please call a Madison family law attorney directly at
(608) 257-0040 or a Milwaukee family law attorney at
(414) 271-8650, or email us via our
Contact Page.