Custodia

A grandparent may petition the court for visitation.¹ However, the law says that the judge has to assume (presume) that the parent’s decision to refuse visitation with the grandparent is reasonable. For the judge to allow grandparent visitation against the parents’ wishes, s/he has to find that all of the following are true 

1. It is in the best interest of the child to have visitation with that grandparent. To decide this, the judge will consider various factors, including:
   • the nature of the relationship between the child and the grandparent;
     • the amount of time the grandparent and child spent together;
     • the potential pros and cons to the child;
     • the potential effect on the parent-child relationship;
     • the preference of the grandchild if s/he is of sufficient intelligence, understanding, and experience to express a preference; and
     • the reasons that the parents believe that it is not in their child’s best interests to have visitation with the grandparent.
   • The grandparent: 
     • is a fit and proper person to have visitation rights with the grandchild;
     • has repeatedly attempted to visit his/her grandchild during the thirty days immediately before the date the petition was filed and was not allowed to by either or both parents;
     • has no other way to visit his/her grandchild without court intervention; and
     • has shown by clear and convincing evidence that the parents’ refusal of visitation is unreasonable.²

¹ RI Gen. Laws § 15-5-24.3(a)(1)
² RI Gen. Laws § 15-5-24.3(a)(2)