When most people think about child custody issues, they tend to conjure up images of a mother and father going to court to work out the details of who has the children when. However, a recent conference in Pennsylvania addressed a growing child custody trend where grandparents are now in the midst of working out custody agreements and even have full custody of their grandchildren. The trend is rising and grandparent rights has become a front and center family law issue.
The conference attracted nearly 200 hundred people who wanted the most up to date information about grandparent rights and custody news. There were also agencies in attendance that help elderly couples prepare and deal with taking custody of their grandchildren. Often, raising their kid’s kids can bring about challenges they never expected to deal with at this stage of life.
In Pennsylvania alone, there are approximately more than 165,000 kids who are living in homes where a grandparent is the primary care-giver. Of that number, about 30,000 of those households cited do not have a parent living there with the children at all. Many times, these grandparents raising their children are doing so because a parent has issues and the child is at risk of being put in foster care.
There can be very unique and unusual living situations all over the United States. This conference in Pennsylvania helped grandparents specifically looking for the tools they need to successfully navigate child custody issues pertaining to their grandchildren. Anyone looking to retain or obtain custody of grandchildren may want to familiarize with any new laws pertaining to grandparent rights.
Source: timesleader.com, Grandparents find child-raising support, Bill O’Boyle, Sept. 14, 2013
