You may be proud of becoming a parental figure, helping raise your stepchildren over the years. You may love them as if they were your own children. However, if you face a divorce, what happens to that treasured relationship?
It depends on the situation
The people you consider family are not always blood relatives. Even if that is true, family law matters can become a bit more complex in these situations. Of course, if you adopted your stepchildren or obtained parental rights, that could allow you to pursue visitation or a custody arrangement.
In other cases, stepparents do not generally have the right to seek custody or visitation. However, can you still stay in contact with these kids?
3 things to consider
If you wish to maintain a relationship with your stepchildren, it will help to find the answers to the following questions:
- What do the child’s parents say? The custody arrangement that your ex-spouse and the child’s other parent have will take priority. You may be able to discuss occasional visits, even if you do not have visitation rights. Visits might be more likely if your stepchildren are also half-siblings of your biological children.
- What does the child want? Does your stepchild also wish to keep in contact and maintain a relationship with you? Depending on their age, their opinion can be a significant factor to consider.
- What is in the best interest of the child? This question will always be the most important in any custody or visitation matter. Family courts, as well as the child’s parents, will consider whether it is truly in their child’s best interest to maintain some form of relationship with you.
Your desire to maintain contact is not the only factor you must evaluate in this situation. Without parental rights, you may not have legal rights to visit stepchildren. Even so, you can potentially work with your ex-spouse and even your stepchildren, to stay in touch after the divorce.