If you are filing for a divorce, a lot of people will be affected. Doubtless, your children will be saddened by your choice to split from your spouse. However, your parents may be just as saddened by the separation, because it jeopardizes their time with their grandbabies. Often, grandparents are soft and sweet with their grandchildren in a way that shocks the parents. The ties between grandparents and grandchildren can be exorbitantly strong, and both sides can be crushed when a divorce damages their ability to see one another.

For grandparents, the love that they have for their grandchildren stems for their love for their child. They are often very attached to their children’s children because there is a double-load of love in the relationship. The grandparents may feel as possessive and responsible for their grandchildren as the actual parents are. However, a grandparent’s tie with their grandchild is completely contingent on whether or not the parents choose to stay together. For example, if a parent splits and has the court grants him or her no custody over the children, then chances are that that spouse’s parents won’t see the children either.

If you are grandparents who has been affected by your child’s divorce, then you may want to see if you can organize modes of communication with your grandkids. Texting, phone calls, Skyping, and even post cards in the mail are great ways to keep in touch if you cannot have immediate contact with one another. Sometimes, rather than losing contact with your grandkids in the wake of divorce, you may gain more of it. Sometimes newfound single parents will move back in with their mom and dad, and you may become responsible for taking care of the kids while the mother or father is at work. In certain situations, this may even require that you are financially responsible for the children. A grandparent who was originally saving for retirement may find that he or she is spending all of his or her money on clothing and food for needy grandkids.

It is sad to say, but grandparents don’t have a lot of rights when it comes to a divorce. Sometimes they may be left without any contact at all. Also, a grandparent may be incredibly overwhelmed if a son or daughter remarried and they are suddenly confronted with step-grandchildren. In this case, it is best to work hard to love these new kids like your own grandkids. Grandparents who feel that they were cheated through their children’s divorce may be able to take the issue to court. You can argue for grandparent’s visitation. If the court finds that it is in the best interest of the children to grant you this visitation, then you may be given a certain time restriction where you can enjoy some time with your grandchildren. These cases are entirely relative, so you will want to talk to a family lawyer about your specific situation before filing a petition for visitation.

Each state evaluated the grandparent-grandchild relationship differently. While one state may treat grandparents the same as strangers, another state may value the relationship. One family lawyer in Connecticut says that the state of grandparent’s rights in America is currently terrible. He explained that in some states if the parent of a child dies, the grandparents could be denied visitation with that child.

In June 2000 the U.S. Supreme Court decided that state courts cannot grant visitation to any person who wants to spend time with a child, even if it is in the child’s best interests. Under the old law, grandparents could be granted visitation even without parents’ consent, but the new ruling makes it so that when the parents are opposed to visitation it may be denied. Because of this ruling, you will want a tenacious family lawyer to fight in your stead if you are a grandparent seeking visitation.