Mankato Grandparents’ Rights Attorney

Family situations can become complicated, and losing access to a grandchild can have a negative impact on both the grandparents and the child. Unfortunately, grandparents are often left wondering what their rights are in the aftermath of a child’s parents’ divorce or separation. If you are a grandparent and struggling to maintain a role in your grandchild’s life, let the team at Knutson + Casey help you today. Our Mankato grandparent’s rights attorneys are ready to investigate your case and work to ensure that you are being treated fairly.

How Knutson + Casey Can Help

Grandparents who are dealing with custody or other legal issues pertaining to their grandchild need help from a skilled and experienced Mankato family law attorney. Let Knutson+Casey get to work on your case today.

• We have extensive experience handling Minnesota family law issues, including grandparent’s rights cases.
• We have the resources and legal experience necessary to conduct thorough investigations into your case so that we can present all necessary evidence to the family court.
• When you work with our firm, you will always have access to your attorney. We will take the time to get to know you and your situation so that we can craft the best strategy moving forward.

Grandparents’ Rights in Minnesota

While state laws generally give significant leeway to parents concerning raising their children, Minnesota has statutes in place that allow grandparents to seek visitation rights. However, these laws can be incredibly complex.

Under Minnesota law, grandparent’s rights are an extension of parental rights. This means that if the child of the grandparents loses visitation rights to their child, then the grandparents will also likely lose their visitation rights.

It should be noted that visitation rights for grandparents can be incredibly difficult to obtain if the parents of the child object to the visitation.

Some circumstances in which the courts may allow grandparents to have visitation rights include:

• The parent who is the grandparents’ child dies
• There are proceedings for custody, parentage, separation, dissolution, or annulment
• The child has lived with the grandparents for a period of 12 months or more (does not have to be consecutive)

In these situations, visitation is not guaranteed. The courts will consider several factors before granting grandparent rights in these cases, including whether or not visitation rights would be in the best interest of the grandchild.

Third-Party Custody Rights

Third parties such as grandparents or other relatives often become the primary caregivers for children in situations where the biological parents are unfit or missing. Minnesota Statute § 257C.03 outlines a procedure for a person petitioning for custody of a child as a third party or de facto custodian. This person is an individual who has been the primary caregiver for a child who has, within the two years preceding the filing of the petition, resided with the individual without their parents being present and without consistent participation from that parent for a period of:

• Six more months (does not have to be consecutive) if the child is under three years old, or
• One year or more (does not have to be consecutive) if the child is three years of age or older.

Do I Need a Family Law Attorney?

If you are a grandparent who has lost access to your grandchild, you may need to speak to an attorney about your rights. At Knutson + Casey, we know that every family situation is different. For various reasons, such as divorce, addiction, or abuse allegations, grandparents may need to know what their rights are when it comes to visitation and custody. At Knutson + Casey, our qualified and experienced team is ready to get to work on your case. When you need a Mankato grandparent’s rights attorney, you can contact us online for a free case evaluation, or by calling (507) 344-8888.