Legal Question in Family Law in Texas
Can Grandmother enforce visitation rights of jailed father
If my sons father goes to Jail or Prison, can his Paternal Grandmother continue to enforce his fathers visitation rights as a designee for his father? My sons father is very near going to jail with two warrants for Probation Violations and about 4 other warrants. I am currently trying to take him back to court due to non-payment of child support. Case handled by the Attorney General Child Support Division. He has yet to be served to appear. He recently filed a motion to enforce visitation, I was served, no court date has been set. This was his mothers doing, I doubt he will show up in court for that, he risk arrest.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Can Grandmother enforce visitation rights of jailed father
You need to carefully read the current court document. You are ordered to follow what it says.
If he goes to prison, he cannot visit the child. Therefore, he would have no vistitation.
You are not required to take the kid to see him in prison.
You need to be aware that his mother could file a lawsuit and ask the court for visitation while her son is in prison.
If you get served, do not ignore the lawsuit. You will need to hire a lawyer to defend against the lawsuit.
I hope this helps.
If you live in the Houston area, you can call my office at 713-847-6000.
Good luck!
Fran Brochstein
www.familylaw4u.com
Re: Can Grandmother enforce visitation rights of jailed father
If the current order does not give the grandmother visitation rights in her own name, then the only way she could visit without your consent would be for the father to pick up the child(ren) and take them to her. If he is in jail, he can't do that. But, if she files a petition to modify the current order and requests a court order to give her visitation rights in her own name, then there is a grey area in the law right now. You should definitely hire an attorney. The courts generally do not favor grandparent's rights right now, but the law is in a state of flux. This is hotly debated topic these days, and the law could change overnight. If you are in the San Antonio area, please give me a call. 210-655-9090
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