Grandparents in Pennsylvania may seek visitation or "reasonable partial custody" if a parent of the child has died or if the parents are divorced or have been separated for six months or more. The court is instructed to consider the amount of personal contact that took place before the application. In addition, if the child resided with the grandparent for twelve months or more and was removed from the grandparent's home by parents, the court may rule in favor of visitation. As in all of the United States, the court must consider whether visitation is in the child's best interest. In addition, in Pennsylvania, the court must consider whether visitation would interfere with the parent-child relationship. Great-grandparents have the same rights as parents.
Adoption terminates visitation rights unless the adopting party is a stepparent or grandparent.
Pennsylvania statutes are not available on an official website but can be seen on this unofficial site. Look for Title 23, Part VI, Chapter 53, Subchapter A, Section 5311.
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