Legal Question in Family Law in Colorado
grandparent rights
I am a third party - A 20 year old man and his 19 year old wife are separated, They have a two year old son. The wife has been turned in to Social Services for child abuse (by me, a third party), and now will not let the son or the grandmother see the baby because of the notification to Social Services. There is no legal divorce as of yet, and the son and the grandmother would like to see the child. She will not let them see him until (1) Social Services leaves her alone and (2)she gets money from the father and grandmother. My questions are - 1. Can she do this? (it sounds like ransom to me) 2. What can the grandmother and father do in order to see him?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Visitation with son
I am not a CO attorney, so my response is only general.
Your question is somewhat confusing, but I assume the secocond question properly names the parties in interest. In answer to your questions:
She can do it so long as her husband, the father of the child, legally enforces his visitation rights in a divorce or separation action. Once he has visitation or custody, it is his decision whether his mother can see the child.
Grandfather's visitation rights
I can't answer for your state, but in NC, a father can certainly sue for visitation rights. And the grandfather might be able to be involved in the same lawsuit for his own visitation rights (while in NC, he probably could not sue for visitation in a separate lawsuit. In NC, whether or not a father is paying child support has no legal connection to whether he is entitled to visit the child. But I have seen many parents withhold visitation rights when child support is not being paid. Is the father not paying child support? If not, what's his excuse? In NC there are very few excuses for not paying child support, whether or not it has been requested by anyone, and whether or not a court has ordered it paid. This sounds like the classic situation where all parties are trying to shaft every other party and the child gets caught in the middle and does the most suffering (in the long run). It sounds to me like you all need to get your act together, get over the anger, and do what's right for this kid (but that's wishful thinking, isn't it?