Grandparent Rights Lawyer Poughkeepsie, NY
Does New York Law Protect Grandparents' Rights?
Although there are situations in which a grandparent can assert and prove that a legally protected relationship with a grandchild is in the child's best interests, my family law experience tells me that parents themselves sometimes need legal advice about the limits of a grandparent's right to access or control of the children.
If you need the counsel of an experienced lawyer in a situation where a grandparent is interfering with your own parental rights and responsibilities, contact the family law firm of Jonathan D. Katz, Attorney at Law. From my office in New Paltz, I serve clients throughout the Hudson Valley and the Catskill region, including Ulster, Dutchess, Orange, Greene and Columbia counties.
Sound advice about the limits of grandparents' rights
Especially in cases involving divorced or single parents, my clients often find themselves resisting the efforts of grandparents - usually, the other parent's parents, but sometimes their own - to establish regular visitation schedules or even primary physical custody. No matter how well intended they may be, the attempts of grandparents to establish what in effect are parental rights can be intrusive and can sometimes undermine parent-child relationships.
New York law does not recognize a grandparent's right to access to a grandchild as a general proposition. Under certain circumstances, however, a grandparent can try to prove that he or she has established an important relationship with a child, that recognizing and continuing that relationship is in the child's best interests, and that a particular schedule of visitation is fair to all concerned.
I represent parents in the Hudson Valley and the Catskills
To put it bluntly, I'd rather represent parents than grandparents in these situations. My own clients have shown me over the years that a grandparent's interference in parent-child relationships can sometimes have a destructive effect. I can represent mothers and fathers in cases where they want to contest a grandparent's assertion of visitation or custody rights.
To learn more about the scope of my practice in grandparents' visitation or custody cases, contact the law firm of Jonathan D. Katz in New Paltz.
