Visitation rights for grandparents changed
A new Illinois law, which went into effect January 1, 2005, allows grandparents, great-grandparents and siblings to be granted visitation rights if there is an "unreasonable denial of visitation" by one of the child's parents.
Under the law, grandparents must show that the denial of visitation is "harmful to the child's mental, physical or emotional health."
The number of grandparents raising grandchildren jumped 30 percent in the 1990s, with six million children younger than 18 living in households headed by grandparents and other relatives, according to U.S. Census reports. The census found that more than 200,000 children in Illinois live with a grandparent.
While the goal of the new law is to balance the parent and grandparent's rights, the power of the parent is preeminent.
The new law is a departure from a previous law, which had been in limbo. Under that law, grandparents simply had to prove that visitation was in the child's best interests. That law was held unconstitutional by the Illinois Supreme Court because it failed to take the rights of parents into consideration.
The new law also clarifies that petitioners must have support of at least one parent to proceed in cases where the parents have been divorced. In instances where a grandparent has not been raising the child or has had limited contact, a lawyer must use a child psychologist in court to prove that the grand-child would be harmed by not seeing the grandparent.
Note: This information was prepared as a public service by the Illinois State Bar Association and is a joint project with the Illinois Press Association. Its purpose is to inform citizens of their legal rights and obligations.
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