Hiring a grandparents rights attorney in San Antonio Heights CA can help you preserve your relationship with your grandkids.
People often joke about grandparents existing to spoil their grandkids, but the reality is that the love and affection provided by a grandparent can be a necessity for a child, not a luxury. The California Family Code recognizes this and provides some limited means for protecting bonds formed between grandparents and grandchildren. To learn more about the possibility of securing official visiting rights with your grandchild, contact an experienced grandparents rights attorney in San Antonio Heights CA such as Kendall & Gkikas.
Who Can Get Grandparents Rights in San Antonio Heights CA?
First and foremost, a grandparent must prove that they already have a strong bond with their grandchild in order to have any hope of securing visitation rights, even with the help of a grandparents rights lawyer in San Antonio Heights CA. If the court agrees that maintaining this bond through regular contact is in the best interests of the child, they will then consider giving you legal rights to visitation. Circumstances that could support he need for a grandparent visitation order include:
- One of the child’s parents has died
- The child’s parents are living separately
- The child doesn’t live with either parent
- The child has been adopted by a stepparent
Having one of the child’s parents join your petition for visitation will be very helpful to your case. Your grandparents rights lawyer in San Antonio Heights CA can help you explore this possibility.
Resolving Grandparents Rights Disputes Out of Court in San Antonio Heights CA
Whenever possible, it’s best to resolve grandparents rights issues outside of court. This may enable you to get more access than the court would order, and it will certainly save you time and money. You can ask your San Antonio Heights CA grandparents rights attorney to serve as a mediator in discussion with the child’s parents or to review any agreements that you may reach in a mediation. If you agree on a visitation plan you can then submit it to the court for official approval to make it enforceable.
Filing a petition for Grandparents Visitation Rights in San Antonio Heights CA
If you are not able to reach a mutually acceptable agreement in mediation, you may decide to pursue legal action. While some courts have created resources for grandparents to use, there are no official forms for grandparents to fill out. You will definitely want a qualified San Antonio Heights CA grandparents rights lawyer to help you. At Kendall & Gkikas, we have over 20 years of experience in family law and we can help you through every step of this process, from filing papers to open a case to serving them on the parents to drafting the actual petition for visitation rights.
Advice You Can Trust from a San Antonio Heights CA Grandparents Rights Lawyer Who Cares
At Kendall & Gkikas, we truly care about the well-being of our clients’ children and grandchildren. In addition to helping with efforts to secure visitation, we can also serve as a San Antonio Heights CA grandparents rights lawyer for individuals who may need to pursue guardianship or adoption of their grandkids. Call our law offices today to set up your first appointment.
