Loving grandparents and their grandchildren have the right to maintain a positive and meaningful relationship with one another, and if you believe your rights as a grandparent are at stake, please do not hesitate to contact an experienced Tazewell County grandparents’ rights lawyer here at Butler, Giraudo & Meister, P.C. to learn more about how our firm can help you.
Tazewell County Grandparents’ Rights Lawyer| Standing By Central Illinois Grandparents
In Illinois, parents have a fundamental right to parent their children the way they choose. This includes deciding whether or not to support a relationship between their children and grandparents. That said, grandparents may have the standing to petition for visitation rights if the parents divorce, one parent dies or a parent is incarcerated.
At Butler Giraudo & Meister, P.C., we believe it is important for grandparents to have a relationship with their grandchildren. You can depend on an experienced Tazewell County family law attorney from our firm to advocate for any grandparent throughout Central Illinois who has standing to seek visitation rights.
Helping You Seek A Relationship With Your Grandchildren
Many grandparents assume that they should be able to spend time with their grandchildren even after the parents separate or divorce. Unfortunately, this is not always possible if the parents do not agree, unless there is a court order mandating it.
The courts consider a variety of factors when determining whether to grant visitation to a grandparent:
- Child preference, if the child is old enough to state a preference
- Mental and physical health of the child
- Mental and physical health of the grandparent(s) seeking visitation
- Length and quality of relationship between the grandparent and grandchild
- Good faith of parent and grandparent seeking visitation
- Quantity of visitation time and whether there will be any adverse impact
- Whether the child resided with the grandparent for at least six consecutive months
- Whether the grandparent had frequent visitation with the child for at least 12 months
- Any other factor that establishes that the loss of relationship would harm the child’s mental, physical or emotional health
When a grandparent asks for our help in seeking visitation rights, we assess his or her situation using these factors. Following this discussion, we will determine whether there are grounds for pursuing visitation, and if so, we will start preparing the case with our client’s and his or her grandchildren’s best interests in mind.
Other Grandparents’ Rights Issues
In addition to visitation, we also help grandparents seek parental rights and family adoption or guardianships in appropriate situations. Additionally, we represent parents who wish to contest grandparent rights issues for whatever reason.
As caring family lawyers, our goal is to reach a solution that serves the best interests of the family as a whole. While we firmly believe that any issue dealing with a child is often best resolved through negotiations, we understand that some cases can only be resolved through litigation. We are skilled trial lawyers who will represent you in family court when negotiations do not produce the desired result.
Contact a Tazewell County Grandparents’ Rights Lawyer
Our firm has fought on behalf of countless well-meaning grandparents in the past, and we are ready to put our knowledge and experience to work for you as well. Contact an experienced Tazewell County grandparents’ rights lawyer at Butler, Giraudo & Meister, P.C today to schedule your initial consultation with our experienced firm.
