According to the United States Census Bureau 5.8 million grandparents had a grandchild under the age of 18 living in their home. Of those almost one-half had the primary responsibility for the care of their grandchildren. Sixty-four percent of these grandparents are women and 19% of all grandparent caregivers had incomes below the poverty level. In 2000, the first time that such questions on grandparent care were included in the census, 39% of the grandparents had been responsible for the care of their grandchildren for five or more years.
In Nevada, the rights of grandparents, as well as other specific relatives, is governed by NRS 125C.050. Nevada law applies when “a parent of an unmarried minor child” has died, is divorced or separated, or was never married. Further, specific relatives may seek rights of reasonable visitation only if a parent has “denied or unreasonably restricted” visits with the child. Even in that case, there is a rebuttable presumption that granting the visitation rights sought is not in the best interest of the child, which presumption may be overcome only, by clear and convincing evidence, that such visits would be in the child’s best interest.
In sum, before the Nevada legislature changed the “grandparent” statute back in 2001, the courts routinely granted grandparents’ visitation with their grandchildren if there was an existing relationship and the contact would serve the child’s best interest. Since the new legislation, prompted by the U. S. Supreme Court decision in Troxel v. Granville, it has become more difficult for grandparents and other relatives to obtain court ordered rights to visitation. Under the right circumstances, a grandparent or other relative may still obtain court ordered visitation rights, but it is difficult. It should also be noted, however, that if a grandparent, or other third party has an existing court order for custody, the grandparent then stands “in the shoes” of a parent and then the parent has the burden to show that a change of custody would be in the best interest of the child.