Legal Question in Family Law in New York

Re: grandparents rights

You can file a petition for visitation in the Family Court. It may take some time to get resolved, but it sounds like it might be your best bet.

Re: grandparents rights

It is a difficult reality, but grandparents' rights are Not At All what grandparents think they ought to be.

In fact, the issue of grandparents' rights is even a little bit MORE difficult now than it was a couple years ago.

You certainly DO have the right to file a petition in Family Court. It is not a complicated process and the court's clerks will help you do it.

Several things will contribute to the outcome:

[1] Where you are and the prevailing philosophy of your local Family Court Judge(s). There is not much "uniformity" in Family Court - - judges in one county routinely make decisions that are quite "at odds" with judges in other counties.

[2] Whether the infant's Mother & Father *consent* to you having visitation. Note - it is the baby's mother & father whose consent is important, NOT the mother's parents {they, too, are "merely" grandparents and their rights are no more substantial than yours}.

[3] What kind of AWFUL THINGS the fighting grandparents and/or their respective children have to say about each other. In my opinion, it is the better course of action to "take the high road" - - try to avoid stooping to name calling.

[4] Ultimately, the Court's decision has to be based on something called "the best interest of the child". A Court might well decide that it would NOT be in the best interests of the infant to be sharing company with two sets of adults who couldn't say even anything decent about each other.

Too, it may be a 'problem' in your case that the father, your son, isn't "on the scene" and seeking visitation 'with' you. [He will have to be named as a party to your petition.]

Grandparents' rights are, truly, very limited and, again, *their's* aren't any 'better' than your's {except for the fact - - I assume - - that they are housing / "caring for" the mother and the infant}.

Still - - it is probably worth the effort to file the petition and see how it plays out.

Good luck.

Regards, etc.,

J. M. Hayes

>>--> The foregoing amounts to musings and observations based on some years familiarity with the 'day-to-day' operation of the law with regard to the issues involved In The Most General sense; my remarks should not be thought of as "legal advice and counsel" in the formal sense of that phrase, since there is, in fact, no 'attorney / client' relationship existing between us. <-<<