Providing Guidance To Grandparents And Parents Across New Jersey

The Morristown law firm of Laufer, Dalena, Jensen, Bradley & Doran, LLC, has extensive experience helping grandparents and parents alike in towns like Morris Township, Madison and Parsippany to secure the visitation rights they need and deserve with their children and grandchildren.

One of the most important relationships any child will develop is that with their grandparents, and while many times a child’s parents will help foster this relationship, sometimes in cases of divorce or difficult family dynamics this relationship can suffer. It is important to know that as a parent or a grandparent, when issues with grandparent visitation rights arise, you have legal options in New Jersey.

Whether you are a grandparent seeking to build your relationship with your grandchild, or a parent looking to protect your children from a particularly negative influence of a grandparent, the family law team of Laufer, Dalena, Jensen, Bradley & Doran, LLC, can help you. Practicing exclusively family law, our law firm has the experience, legal knowledge and dedication to our practice that you need in order to secure the resolution that is best for your child or grandchild. Our attorneys are ready to discuss your particular situation with you in a free and confidential consultation; do not hesitate to reach out to us for guidance and legal counsel.

Grandparent Visitation Rights Lawyers Chatham, New Jersey

Grandparent visitation laws were first addressed in New Jersey with the Grandparents’ Visitation Statute (N.J.S.A. 9:2-7.1) in 1972. This law has continued to evolve since that time, but the basic principle behind this law has not, that of a grandparent’s legal rights to visitation with their grandchildren when said visitation is being denied by a child’s parent(s). New Jersey courts consider a wide variety of factors when determining a grandparents’ rights to visitation, but the factor that is held above all others is the child’s best interests. Other determining factors include:

• The relationship between the child and the grandparent(s)
• The relationship between the child’s parents and the grandparent(s)
• The effect a grandparent’s visitation will have on the relationship between the child and their parents
• The amount of time that has passed since the child last visited the grandparent
• Any existing child custody and parenting time agreement between the child’s parents if they are divorced
• Any history of physical, emotional or sexual abuse by the grandparent making the application
• The good faith of the grandparent making the application

In order for a grandparent to be successful in their visitation rights petition, they must not only prove that their visitation with the child is in the child’s best interest, but that being denied visitation with the grandchild is detrimental to the child.

The family law attorneys of Laufer, Dalena, Jensen, Bradley & Doran, LLC, can help you present the best possible case to the courts for visitation with your grandchild, and can help you mitigate conflict with the child’s parents while ensuring that your rights as a grandparent are protected.

Grandparent Guardianship And Adoption Attorneys Morris Township, New Jersey

It is also possible for a grandparent to seek guardianship of, or to adopt, a grandchild in the case that the child’s parents can no longer care for the child. This is common in cases of substance abuse, incarceration or the death of the child’s parents. The default legal action in these cases is for the child to be placed in the New Jersey foster care system, but with the help of an experienced Morris County attorney, you can legally become the parent or guardian of the child.

Contact Our Morristown Grandparents’ Rights Attorneys Today

If you have any questions about grandparent issues, including grandparents’ rights to visitation or requests for guardianship or adoption, the Morristown law firm of Laufer, Dalena, Jensen, Bradley & Doran, LLC, is ready to help you today. We have extensive experience practicing family law, and have helped many families across Morris County to successfully resolve issues related to grandparent visitation and guardianship.

To speak with one of our grandparents’ rights attorneys today in a free and confidential consultation, please contact us online or through our Morristown office at 973-975-4043.