Can Grandparents Get Visitation Rights in Tennessee?

You may have heard the term “grandparent rights” and assume that you have them. However, Tennessee’s child custody laws give a lot of reverence to parents’ preferences, allowing them to act as stewards for who can have access to their children. Specialized Nashville child custody attorneys share what you need to know about potentially obtaining visitation rights in Tennessee.

Tennessee Rules on Grandparent Rights

Tennessee courts presume that parents will act in the best interests of their children. If they decide a relative should not be involved in their child’s life, there is probably a good reason. However, there are times when a loving grandparent can overcome this presumption and show that not providing court-ordered visitation rights will do substantial harm to the child.

Certain Situations Tennessee Courts Recognize

To establish grandparent visitation rights, you must first show that a special situation threatens your ability to maintain a meaningful relationship with your grandchild. The situations recognized by Tennessee law include:

• The child’s other parent is deceased.
• The child’s parents are divorced, legally separated, or never married to each other.
• The child’s other parent has been missing for six months or longer.
• A court in another state has ordered grandparent visitation.
• The child resided in the grandparent’s home for at least 12 months and the parent removed them from the home.
• The child and grandparent maintained a significant relationship for at least 12 months before the parent severed the relationship between them, and severance of the relationship is likely to cause the child substantial emotional harm.

Risk of Substantial Harm

Next, the grandparent must show that severing the relationship or severely reducing contact would present a danger of substantial harm to the child. This harm must be significant and cannot be merely theoretical.

Significant Relationship

The grandparent must also show that they had a significant relationship with the child. This is defined as any of the following:

• The child resided with the grandparent for at least six consecutive months before the relationship was severed.
• The grandparent functioned as a primary caregiver for the child for at least six months before the relationship was severed.
• The grandparent had frequent visitation with the child for at least one year before the relationship was severed.

In the Child’s Best Interests

Finally, the grandparent must show that visitation would be in the child’s best interests. The court considers various factors when making this determination, including:

• The length and quality of the relationship between the grandparent and child and the role the grandparent performed
• The existing emotional ties of the child to the grandparent
• The child’s preference, if mature enough to express it
• The effect of hostility between the parent and grandparent on the child and the willingness of the grandparent to encourage a close relationship between the child and the parent
• The grandparent’s good faith in filing the petition for visitation
• The parents’ time-sharing arrangement, if divorced or separated
• The parent’s history of denying visitation
• Whether grandparent visitation would interfere with the relationship between the child and the parent
• Any court finding that the parent is unfit

Legal Help with Grandparent Visitation

While Tennessee laws explicitly provide for grandparent visitation, it can be difficult to establish these rights because parents are given broad deference. An experienced Nashville family lawyer from the Burdine Law Firm can review your situation during a free consultation. Call us at (629) 299-2228 or contact us online to get started.