Grandparent Visitation

Chicago Attorneys Helping You Understand Grandparent Rights and Visitation

Experienced Illinois visitation rights and child custody attorneys in the Chicago area

The state of grandparent visitation rights in Illinois has been changing during the past few years. The child custody attorneys of Gordon & Perlut, LLC can help explain the state of the law as it applies to your case.

After a United States Supreme Court decision wiped out most grandparent visitation laws, most states (including Illinois) rewrote their laws to comply with the decision. The Illinois legislature adopted changes to grandparent’s rights allowing grandparents (as well as great-grandparents and siblings) to file petitions for visitation rights in court if an “unreasonable denial” of visitation by a parent takes place and at least one of the following conditions exists: (a) one parents is incompetent as a matter of law or deceased or has been in prison for at least 90 days immediately prior to the petitioner; (b) the parents are divorced (or are in the process of a divorce) or are legally separated and at least one parent does not object to the grandparent visitation, and (c) a grandparent of a child born out of wedlock seeks visitation (so long as the parents are not living together and paternity has been established for the father).

It must be noted that the court’s primary concern is the child’s best interests. Providing for visitation or even placing guardianship with the grandparents may be a possibility, depending on the circumstances of the case.

Sadly, there are all too many grandparents, great-grandparents, or siblings of a parent denied visitation by the parent with child custody. While it is always preferable for the adults to cooperate and allow a child to have access to extended family members, it is comforting to know that a grandparent can turn to our courts to seek access to a child if that access is denied. A divorce lawyer can help you pursue whatever grandparent’s rights may be available to you by law.

Contact a child custody attorney to know your rights as a grandparent

Email our grandparent’s rights lawyers at M. Scott Gordon & Associates for more information or call our Chicago office at  312.360.0250 or our Skokie office at  847.329.0101