What if an Illinois Court Says I Cannot Visit My Grandchild?

 Posted on March 03, 2022 in Divorce

During a heated divorce, Illinois parents will often go to great lengths to punish each other for personal grievances, even if doing so comes at the expense of a child’s best interests. Other times, parents strongly feel that keeping their child away from the other parent and his extended family really is in the child’s best interests. In either case, the child and the extended family are often separated from each other and powerless to take action. 

Grandparents may want to request visitation rights with a grandchild, but sometimes these requests are rejected. Grandparents can understandably feel deeply saddened when this happens. If you are a grandparent in Illinois and wish to see your child, you will need to prove that the child is being harmed by not seeing you. The burden of proof will be entirely on you. While this can be a complex and difficult process, with the help of an experienced DuPage County grandparent-child visitation attorney, your petition may have the potential to succeed. 

What Can a Grandparent Do to Prove the Child Benefits From Their Involvement? 

While common sense might dictate that children naturally benefit from the presence of their grandparents, making that argument to a judge requires more than personal testimony and opinion. Grandparents must show that the time spent with a child was extensive, positive, and benefitted the child’s mental, physical, and emotional well-being. Furthermore, they must show that not spending time with the child would harm the child’s well-being in the same way. 

Sometimes the best way to do this is to illustrate how strong the bond is between the grandparents and grandchild by detailing how much time was spent together, the activities the grandparent and grandchild were involved in, or the extent to which the grandparent was responsible for helping the child do things like homework or learn new skills. 

In addition to considering evidence that the grandparents and grandchild share a warm and loving relationship, a court can also consider the following factors: 

• What the child wants

• What either parent wants, and why grandparent visitation was denied

• Whether the grandparent is sincerely requesting to spend time with the child without ulterior motivations

• How much time the grandparent wants to spend with the child

• Evidence that the child is being harmed by not seeing their grandparent 

• Whether allowing the parties to spend time together would cause damaging conflict between the parent and child, or between the child’s parents

Schedule a Case Review With an Experienced DuPage County Grandparent Visitation Lawyer

At The Stogsdill Law Firm, P.C., our compassionate DuPage County grandparent visitation lawyers know how difficult it can be when you are refused the ability to see a child you love. If you are hoping to prove your grandchild is harmed by being kept away from you, schedule a confidential consultation with our offices today by calling us at 630-462-9500. 

Source: 

https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/documents/075000050K602.9.htm