About third-party visitation rights in Nevada

There are times when grandparents or other relatives may wish to seek visitation rights for a minor child. Fortunately for them, Nevada law provides some situations in which courts can grant visitation to third parties such as grandparents.

In some circumstances, a parent will restrict the rights of grandparents to visit a child. In those cases, if the other parent is deceased, separated or divorced from the parent or has had his or her rights terminated, the grandparents who wish to see the child can file a request in court asking for an order allowing them to do so.

The court views the request under the rebuttable presumption that the restricting parent is doing so in the best interests of the child. In order to overcome this presumption, the grandparents must prove to the court with clear and convincing evidence that it is instead in the child’s best interests to grant the requested visitation. In making the determination of proof, the courts will consider a number of factors, including but not limited to such things as the child’s previous participation with the grandparents at holidays and birthday celebrations and the relationship between the grandparents and the child.

If the presumption is overcome, the court may award visitation. Grandparents who are being prevented from seeing their grandchildren by the other parent may wish to file a motion seeking rights with the court. As the factors are very important in the court’s determination of whether to grant a visitation request, people should consider them carefully and gather as much evidence to support each one as possible. Grandparents seeking visitation with their grandchildren may wish to consult with a family law attorney for help in understanding the needed evidence in a given case. The attorney could help by representing their clients in court.

Source: Nevada Legislature, “ NRS 125C.050  Petition for right of visitation for certain relatives and other persons.“, October 23, 2014