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Third Party Grandparents’ Rights

Grandparent’s Rights Lawyers in Mooresville, NC

At Daly Mills Family Law, our experienced grandparents’ rights attorneys know how important it is for our clients to maintain contact with their grandchildren. Each party plays a particularly vital role in each other’s lives, and barring any extenuating or foreboding circumstances, one rarely considers life without the other until the unthinkable happens.

If your grandchild’s family has been fractured by abandonment, death, incarceration, or otherwise fails to meet the legal definition of “intact” in North Carolina, grandparents can use their status to pursue visitation or custody rights.

As part of our commitment to the Lake Norman area, and the rest of our fellow North Carolinians, our law firm was featured in Limitless Magazine to shine a light on combining our compassion with the legal skills necessary to protect our clients’ futures.

More importantly, our family lawyers do our jobs because we care about our clients, and only take a limited number of cases each month to ensure everyone gets the personal attention they deserve.

Our dedicated family law attorneys have offices conveniently located in Mooresville, North Carolina, making us easy to find and even easier to reach, so our clients can achieve their goals in the way they want to achieve them.

When you are ready to talk, we are ready to fight for the grandchildren you hold dear.

What Will I Need to Prove to Pursue My Grandparents’ Rights in North Carolina?

In North Carolina, grandparents’ rights do not apply when the grandchild’s family is intact.

Before pursuing visitation time with your grandchild through the courts, a grandparent must establish that the grandchild’s family is no longer intact.

That requires there to be a strain in the grandchild’s immediate family structure arising from:

A single-parent household is also viewed as an intact family unless the parents are divorced or are in an ongoing custody dispute.

In cases where the grandchild lives in a single-parent household because the other parent never pursued visitation or custody, grandparents will not have grounds to ask the court for visitation.

Can I Ask For Custody of My Grandchild in North Carolina?

When grandparents can demonstrate an existing and ongoing custody dispute or the lack of an intact family, they still have the burden of proof to show visitation is in the child’s best interest.

The court will consider any relevant evidence to make this determination.

Likewise, if grandparents are seeking to go a step further and pursue custody of their grandchild(ren), they must show the parents have abused, neglected, or abandoned their children by failing to:

  • Provide safe housing.
  • Contribute to child support.
  • Participate in their upbringing.
  • Protect them from harm.

Simply demonstrating the ability to provide a higher standard of living or alternate parenting style is not enough to overcome the legal assumption given to natural parents.

Are There Other Factors That Allow Grandparents to Pursue Custody of Their Grandchildren in North Carolina?

If the grandchild has both parents, and one is deemed unfit, the other can retain the “intact family” title if he or she is suitable in the eyes of the court.

To pursue a successful case to obtain custody of your grandchild, we must demonstrate that both parents are unable to take care of the child.

Factors that can deem a parent unfit may include:

  • Abandoning the child.
  • Being unable to care for the child financially.
  • Drug abuse.
  • Having the child in a dangerous place.
  • Mental instability or illness.

Our skilled Mooresville family lawyers listen to each of our client’s unique stories and provide the compassion they need to know someone is listening. We then outline their customized legal needs with skill and precision, so they know we are fighting for a successful outcome.

Contact Our North Carolina Grandparents’ Rights Attorneys Today for a Consultation

At Daly Mills Family Law, our grandparents’ rights lawyers in Mooresville focus on each of our client’s unique legal needs, and that begins by keeping our caseloads small. Each time you contact our office, you will have access to attorneys and support staff who can answer your questions, allay your fears, and develop practical legal solutions that make sense.

Family law and future planning matters may be complex, but they are all we do. And we do it because we want to help our North Carolina clients confidently build their futures for success.

It’s a jungle out there. Protect what’s yours. Contact our Mooresville family law attorneys today at 704-878-2365 or online to develop a partnership that produces actual results.

Frequently Asked Questions for Our Grandparents’ Rights Attorneys in Mooresville, North Carolina

Can Grandparents Pursue Visitation of Adopted Children in North Carolina?

Biological grandparents in North Carolina do not have visitation rights of non-biological parents adopted their grandchild. Since the child’s biological parents terminated their custodial rights, the grandparents also have no rights.

What Does It Mean to Grant Grandparents Visitation Rights in North Carolina?

If the court agrees that a child’s grandparent should get visitation rights, they might include in-person visits and/or electronic communication like phone calls, video conferencing, email, and text messaging.

Can My Grandchild’s Parents Deny Visitation?

If your child and/or their partner can care for their child properly and the family is intact, then they are under no obligation to allow you visitation rights.

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“I was impressed working with Judith Daly. Judith was responsive, caring and answered every question I had by email or by phone. She’s very diligent. I would highly recommend her to any of my current or future clients.”

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