What are the grandparent rights for child custody?

Grandparents have no rights without filing in court. Possibly a guardianship.

In 2003, the Supreme Court of New Jersey established a procedure to be followed in every case where a grandparent is denied visitation with the grandchild. First, the grandparent must establish by a preponderance of the evidence that visitation is necessary to avoid harm to the child. If the grandparent meets this burden, then the parent must propose a visitation schedule. If the grandparent does not accept the proposed schedule, then the Court will determine whether the schedule is in the child's best interests based upon the statutory factors set forth in N.J.S.A. 9:2-7.1. If visitation is not denied outright, but the grandparents object to the sufficiency of the proposed schedule, the grandparent must show by a preponderance of the evidence that the proposed schedule is inadequate to avoid harm to the child. If the grandparent meets this burden, the Court will then be required to develop a schedule that is in the child's best interest based upon the statutory factors. See Moriarity v. Bradt, 177 N.J. 84 (2003). If you believe your grandchildren are at risk of immediate danger as a result of one parent or the other's actions, you should contact the Division of Child Protection and Permanency and file an emergent custody application in the county in which the children reside.

There are no easy solutions to these circumstances. Grandparents rights have largely been done away with by the courts. Basically, grandparents only have rights if the children need to be protected from their parents. Consult with a local attorney about this. It is possible to file a petition for temporary custody by extended family when the parents consent. The trick is to get the parents to consent.

Basically, in Colorado and most states, simply being a grandparent does not give you any rights to seek custody of the grandchildren.

Slim to none. In California look at a case called "Harris" it is a California Supreme Court opinion. Your best chance is to see if you can make a case for a guardianship.

In Washington your rights are zero unless you file a third party custody action and prove parents unfit.

You can petition the juvenile court or the Superior Court for guardianship of the child or to have the child declared "deprived." You will have to prove that the mother is a danger to the child and that it is not in the child's best interests to be in the custody of the father.