At The Harris Law Firm, we receive many questions from stepparents and grandparents regarding rights to children. Individuals other than parents can have rights to see and spend time with children under certain circumstances. Today, we want to address two common questions in particular:
- Can the court order a parent to grant the stepparent or the grandparent parenting time with the children?
Granting Stepparents and Grandparents Time with Children
In Colorado and most states, children are the responsibility of the biological parents. The parents are allowed to determine how the children are raised, subject to court orders. The only situation that might warrant individuals other than the parents to request parenting time is if the biological parents are not involved with their children for some reason.
In order to prove that stepparent parenting time or grandparent parenting time is in the child’s best interests, the party requesting parenting time must show the court that the biological parent is uninvolved and/or unfit to parent.
Sometimes, children have a strong bond with a non-parent, but that does not necessarily give the non-parent the right to ask for court ordered parenting time. An attorney can help a non-parent analyze a situation to see if a court would be able to award visitation or parental rights.
If you are currently facing an issue involving parenting time, we invite you to contact the Colorado child custody attorneys at The Harris Law Firm!