How Realistic Is The Grandparent Custody Durham NC Seniors Want

By Amy Morgan


Most parents have dreams for their children. They imagine children growing up, finding a career and a partner, and eventually giving their parents the grandchildren they always wanted. What most grandparents do not imagine is being in the position of raising those grandchildren themselves. Everyone's situation is different, and there are those grandparents who decide they will fight for legal guardianship of the children. In Durham, NC when they start researching grandparent custody Durham NC seniors find out just how difficult that can be.

Parenting styles vary from household to household, and sometimes the older generation does not approve of the way their children are handling the day to day challenges of parenting. They may object strongly about everything from what the grandchildren eat to how they are disciplined. There is rarely anything they can do about it however, because removing children from the parental home is something social services and courts try to avoid.

Many people believe parents caught taking illegal drugs automatically lose guardianship of their children, but this is not always the case. Many states do not regard illegal drug activity child abuse. It may take proving parents have involved the minor children in the drug activities. Some states recognize the use of drugs during pregnancy a risk to the unborn child which qualifies as abuse.

The most common way grandparents end up raising their grandchildren is by parents giving over authority. Sometimes the mother or father will drop off their children with the grandparents and disappear. Other times children spend more and more time with their grandparents until they are actually living with them full time.

Sometimes children lose parents through death or imprisonment. When this happens grandparents can attempt to formalize their custodial relationship in the courts. It can still be difficult, because the judge is not required to give grandparents preferential treatment when it comes custodial rights. Many grandparents maintain an informal status filing paperwork so they have the authority to make medical and educational decisions.

Grandparents who think the courts will give them special consideration because they are related to the children may be upset to learn the courts have no obligation to regard them as anything but an interested third party. If they already have had the children in their home full time for an extended period, they may have a better chance of resolving the issue in their favor.

A lot of times grandparents who have won custodial rights mistakenly think they have as many rights as adoptive parents. This is not correct. If parents want their children back, the court is inclined to allow it as long as they are convinced it would be in the children's best interest. If this happens, the grandparents automatically lose their guardianship status and may risk losing visitation privileges.

Tensions can run high when it comes to how children are being raised and what constitutes a loving and stable home. Grandparents are important to their grandchildren, but they are seldom able to replace parents.




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