Grandparent visitation rights are not an automatic entitlement that comes with being a grandparent. They exist only because every state has a statute allowing a grandparent, and sometimes other relatives, to ask a court for visitation in defined circumstances, such as a parent's death, divorce, or in some states even while both parents are together and object. These statutes operate within real constitutional limits, most notably the U.S. Supreme Court's 2000 decision in Troxel v. Granville, which requires courts to give substantial deference to a fit parent's own decisions about who may see their child.
No automatic right
A grandparent generally cannot simply demand time with a grandchild the way a legal parent can seek custody or visitation. Instead, a grandparent who wants court-ordered visitation must file a petition under their state's specific grandparent visitation statute and meet whatever conditions that statute sets, which vary considerably from one state to the next.
What Troxel v. Granville decided
In Troxel v. Granville, the Supreme Court struck down a Washington state law that let "any person" petition for visitation "at any time," without requiring courts to give any special weight to a fit parent's own wishes. The Court held that parents have a fundamental, constitutionally protected liberty interest in directing the care, custody, and control of their children, and that a court cannot simply substitute its own judgment about a child's best interests for that of a fit parent. The decision was narrow in one respect. It did not declare all grandparent or nonparent visitation statutes unconstitutional, only that courts must accord a fit parent's decision "special weight."
How courts apply Troxel today
Since Troxel, states have adjusted their grandparent visitation statutes and the standards courts use to apply them, generally building in more deference to a fit parent's wishes than existed before. In practice, this often means a grandparent seeking visitation over a parent's objection has to show more than simply that visitation would be nice to have; many states require some threshold showing, such as harm to the child from the denial of visitation or an existing substantial relationship, before a court will override a fit parent's decision.
Why this varies by state
Because grandparent visitation is governed entirely by individual state statutes operating within the constitutional floor set by Troxel, the specific triggering circumstances, the standard a court applies, and even whether visitation can be sought while both parents are intact and object, differ from state to state. A licensed family law attorney in the relevant state can explain what a grandparent visitation petition would actually require in a specific situation.