Can I claim custody of my grandchildren if my divorced child dies?

Do grandparents have legal parenting rights? There is such a thing in Colorado as grandparent’s rights. It only comes up in certain situations. In most cases the answer is ‘No.’ In most cases when you’ve got two people that are divorced. The grandparent is going to get to see the child when that former spouse sees the child as part of that visitation. Under certain circumstances Grandparent’s rights can come up.

Grandmother riding on a toy tricycle being pushed by her grandson

One of those circumstances is the death of their child. There is situations where an ex-spouse passes away and therefore won’t get any more parenting time; obviously. In this situation a grandparent can bring a grandparent’s rights case to say “I still feel that we need to be in our grandchild’s life.” At that point the court will determine whether or not it is appropriate based on what’s in the best interest of the child, but it’s more likely than not that they should still be in the child’s life.

The parent that is still alive has something to say about that. The standard is somewhat higher than just a best interest of the child standard, but that action can be brought by a grandparent. There are a number of instances where grandparent’s rights are available and if you’d like to talk in greater depth about that I’m happy to do so. You can give me a call at the office at 303-329-3802 and we can talk more specifically to your situation to see whether or not you have some of the special circumstances that are available for grandparents rights case.