Understanding Grandparents’ Rights in South Carolina

Grandparents are important figures in the life of any child. Because of our wisdom and life experience, we can offer grandchildren perspectives they can’t find anywhere else. As grandparents, we also delight in the innocence and joy that young children bring into our lives. The bond between grandparents and grandchildren is sacred.

Unfortunately, grandparents in South Carolina have fewer rights than many people realize. In fact, the state is not very friendly to grandparents. Most of our clients are grandparents who want visitation with their grandchildren, which is blocked by the child’s parents. This is a tough situation emotionally—and legally.

Contact Surasky Law Firm. As family lawyers we can discuss your rights and what steps to take. In this article, we provide an overview of your rights as grandparents to visitation or custody. Convincing a judge to grant either is a challenge, so secure a lawyer’s help as soon as possible.

Grandparent Rights in South Carolina – Visitation

Visitation can keep the family bond alive. The relevant law is found at South Carolina Code § 63-3-530(33). Generally, parents are free to decide how to raise their children and whether to allow grandparents to visit. The parents can cut off visitation if they desire. In fact, parents have a constitutional right to raise their children as they see fit.

However, the law permits grandparent visitation if certain conditions are met:

The grandparent is the natural or adoptive parent of the grandchild’s parent.
One or both parents are deceased, divorced, or living separate and apart in different homes.
The parents are unreasonably denying grandparents visitation for more than 90 days.
Awarding visitation will not interfere with the parent-child relationship.
Clear and convincing evidence shows either (a) that the parents or guardians are unfit or (b) that compelling circumstances overcome the presumption that the parent’s decision to deny visitation is in the child’s best interests.

That’s a lot to prove. As you can see, if the grandchild’s parents are still living together, then they can unilaterally block visitation from grandparents. There’s nothing grandparents can do.

In our experience, the most disputed issue is #5, whether there are compelling circumstances that will overcome the presumption that the parents’ choice to deny visitation is in the child’s best interests. What does that mean?

Typically, you will need to show the grandchildren will derive benefits from seeing you. Some grandparents try to argue that “every grandchild should know his grandparents”—which sounds nice, in theory, but isn’t really a compelling legal argument to a judge. We need to show something more, such as how visitation will help a child adjust to home or school or how visitation will help their mental or emotional development.

At Surasky we can assess the facts and learn more about what is going on in your grandchild’s life. For example, your child may be deceased, and your grandchild is struggling emotionally with adjustment at school or in a new community. Regular visitation could help their development.

Grandparent Custody in South Carolina

Grandparents sometimes seek custody in South Carolina. You will need to jump through several hoops to get custody.

First, a grandparent must show they are the “de facto custodian” of the child. That essentially means that you are the primary caregiver and financial supporter of the child who has lived with you for at least six months (if the child is younger than three years of age) or has lived with you for at least one year (if the child is three years of age or older).

For example, your grandchild is five years old. She has lived with you for 5 months. That’s not enough time for you to qualify as the de facto custodian.

This definition of de facto custodian rests primarily on the duration the child has lived with you. All of this time must be before you file your petition in court. You also need clear and convincing evidence that you are the de facto custodian.

Once custodianship is established, grandparents will need to prove by clear and convincing evidence that the natural parent is unfit and cannot provide a good home or that other compelling circumstances exist.

If your grandchild was abandoned or is being abused or neglected, then you probably have a strong case for custody, provided you are the de facto custodian. These cases are much harder if you simply disagree with who the grandchild’s parent is dating or if the family has moved away from you. If you contact us, we can review the information.

What Steps Should You Take?

If you are a grandparent seeking visitation or custody, you will need considerable amounts of evidence to present to a judge. This is one reason to call an experienced attorney as soon as possible.

For example, we can help you gather evidence to show parental unfitness. Such as in the case the grandchild’s parent might have a drug or alcohol addiction or is neglecting the child so that your grandchild is endangered. We can use medical records, police reports, and school reports in support of your argument.

You also need to establish a relationship with your grandchild. For example, if your grandchild is living with you, we can help document the duration. Maybe foster services moved the child in with you, in which case we can use government records to establish de facto custodianship, which is essential if you are seeking custody.

Aiken, South Carolina Child Custody Attorney

At Surasky Law Firm, we are eager to help grandparents maintain and strengthen their bonds with grandchildren. Unfortunately, obtaining even visitation is not easy. As explained above, you need to show many factors by “clear and convincing” evidence, which is a relatively high standard. You can expect the child’s parents to put up a fight, so your evidence needs to be top-notch. Give our law firm a call to schedule a free, confidential meeting at our office. We can review the situation and come up with ideas for moving forward to obtain custody or visitation.