Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia

My grand son (Sean) is now 14 His mother from Germany has custody of him for 4 yrs In April

2009 she got married to a Nigerian. Sean does not like to live now with his mother and new step

father I pick him up from after school and and he is upset about the situation and we would like to have custody of him My wife and I would like to have custody of him . Does he have a choice and do we have a legal option to get custody of him ?


Asked on 2/27/10, 7:45 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Merely because Sean would supposedly prefer to live with you, his grandfather,

(paternal I would assume), does not mean that would be sufficient for a court to

award you custody of the boy. In fact the parental interest will normally trump

that of any lesser related person with a legitimate interest which is made

clear in Va. Code Sec. 20-124.2B, and you would therefore have to demonstrate to the court hearing the matter by clear and convincing evidence that Sean's best interests (as determined by the 10 factors set out in Va. Code Sec. 20-124.3) would be best served by removing him from his mother's care and custody and awarding the custody status which she currently enjoys to you.

I very much doubt that you would be able to demonstrate that in your

petition for custody.

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Answered on 3/04/10, 10:49 am


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