Family · Grandparent visitation
Grandparent Visitation Rights by State: Who Can Petition
When a grandparent can ask a court for visitation in each state, who has standing, what they must prove, and the special weight the court must give a fit parent's decision. Each cited to the statute.
Read this first: the fit-parent presumption
Grandparents do not have an automatic right to see a grandchild. In Troxel v. Granville, the US Supreme Court held that a fit parent has a fundamental right to decide their child's upbringing, including who the child spends time with. Because of that ruling, every state's grandparent-visitation statute has to give special weight to a fit parent's decision, and a court will not simply substitute its own view of what is best.
So the question is rarely just whether visitation would be nice for the child. A grandparent usually has to clear a threshold first: that a parent has died, that the parents are divorced or separated, or that the child once lived with the grandparent, before the court will even weigh the child's best interest. Some states, like Florida, allow it only in very narrow situations. Every figure links to the statute, and pages still pending verification say so.
Every state in one table
The core limit, who has standing, and the statute in each row.
All states (10)
| State | Can a grandparent petition | Key limit | Statute |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | Yes, in limited circumstances | Parents not married, or a listed exception applies | Cal. Fam. Code §§ 3100 |
| Florida | Rarely, only in narrow cases | Both parents dead, missing, or incapacitated | Fla. Stat. § 752.011 |
| Georgia | Yes, but you must prove harm | Clear and convincing evidence of harm, plus best interest | O.C.G.A. § 19‑7‑3 |
| Illinois | Yes, in limited circumstances | Unreasonable denial plus undue harm to the child | 750 ILCS 5/602.9 |
| Michigan | Yes, but only in six situations, and harm must be shown | Substantial risk of harm, by a preponderance of the evidence | Mich. Comp. Laws §§ 722.27b |
| New York | Yes, in limited circumstances | A parent deceased, or equity sees fit to intervene | N.Y. Dom. Rel. Law § 72 |
| North Carolina | Only inside a custody case, or after certain adoptions | A custody case, or a stepparent or relative adoption | N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 50‑13.2(b1) |
| Ohio | Yes, through three gateways only | One of three gateways required | Ohio Rev. Code §§ 3109.051(B) |
| Pennsylvania | Yes, in limited circumstances | Parent deceased, divorce filed, or child lived with the grandparent 12+ months | 23 Pa.C.S. §§ 5325 |
| Texas | Yes, but a high bar applies | Prove denial would significantly impair the child | Tex. Fam. Code §§ 153.432 |
What these pages are, and what they aren't
Each state page is a reference for who can petition and the standard the court applies. They are deliberately not advice for your case: standing and the outcome turn on the exact statute, current case law, and your family's facts, so each page links to the statute and a way to find a family-law attorney. This is legal information, not legal advice.