Grandparents often play an important role in a child’s life. They often enjoy spending time with the child and form a strong bond with them. They likely never think that they’ll suddenly be unable to spend time with the children they love so much.
Some grandparents who are in this position may want to find out if they can file for grandparents’ rights. While Alaska does provide grandparents with an avenue to file for guaranteed visitation or even custody, it only applies in certain situations.
No firm law
There’s not an actual law that specifically grants grandparents rights in Alaska. Instead, previous cases that have been decided by the Alaska Supreme Court have set precedents for these cases.
Typically, the court will uphold the rights of the parents unless a parent is unfit or if the current welfare of the child means that someone who isn’t the child’s parent has custody of the child. In these cases, the onus is on the grandparents to prove that one of those two conditions is present.
If a grandparent isn’t seeking custody of a child, they may ask for visitation. This would require them to show that the visits would be in the best interests of the child and that limiting the visits would harm the child. This is often established by showing that contact between the grandparent and grandchild has been ongoing or that the grandparents have made attempts to stay in touch.
These cases can be rather complex. It’s best for grandparents who are seeking time with their grandchild to have someone familiar with these cases to work with them.