Custody

If the parents don’t allow you, the grandparent, to visit with your grandchild, you may need to go to court and file a petition for visitation. The judge may grant you reasonable visitation rights if:

1. It is in the child’s best interests to have visitation with you; and
2. Either of the following is true:
   
   • The parents are proven to be unfit; or
   • You have proven that a fit parent is not acting in the best interest of the child by denying you visits because:
     • the child will/can be harmed by the denial of contact with you; and
     • the child’s family unit has been disrupted by something like divorce, the death of a parent, or the child being deserted, etc.¹

Note: There are specific scenarios that your situation would have to fall under to apply for grandparent visitation, even if you believe you meet the factors above.  To read the specific circumstances you must meet, go to our Selected Oklahoma Statutes page and read subsection A.1 of section 109.4.  To read the factors the judge will consider when deciding if it is in the child’s best interest, go to our Selected Oklahoma Statutes page and read subsection E.1 of section 109.4.

¹ 43 O.S. § 109.4