Legal Question in Family Law in New York

grandparent visitation

My husband and i live next door to his father and have lived there for 7 years.We have 4 kids ages 8,7,3,9 months and the grandfather was always a good grandpa until he started dating his girlfriend and moved her in.She has obvious mental problems and is jealous of the kids,she flips out on the kids swearing and threatening them so we dont go up there anymore for the sake of our kids.The grandfather rarely stops in to see the kids and if he does its to tell my husband something for 5 minutes and barely even says anything to the kids.My husband and i plan to move to get away from this situation because we dont even feel comfortable letting the kids out to play.We dont want grandfather around our kids until she is no longer in the picture because she is a bad influence and tries to put him against the kids.What are the chances that he could seek visitation and maybe even get the right to bring the kids into the house with that woman there? I shudder at that possibility because i know my kids wont be treated well.Does it matter that he ''used'' to be a involved grandparent? Would she have to have a psychiatric evaluation before they would alow the kids around her? Would he have to have a evaluation also?


Asked on 7/30/06, 1:26 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Seth Kaufman Kaufman PLLC

Re: grandparent visitation

Grandparents can petition the court for visitation with their grandchildren, but the general rule is that they have to show a special or unusually close relationship with the children. If that burden is met, then the court proceeds with a "best interests" analysis. You need to discuss your case in further detail with a qualified attorney in order to determine what kind of case the grandfather might make.

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Answered on 8/06/06, 8:24 am


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