Grandparent Visitation

Last reviewed November 3, 2026

Grandparent visitation is a court order giving a grandparent scheduled time with a grandchild. It is different from custody, which is covered in Grandparent Custody. Minnesota grandparent visitation rights are limited by statute and by constitutional protections for parents. This article explains when a grandparent may ask for visitation and what the grandparent must prove. It is part of the site’s guide to custody and parenting in Minnesota.

Do Grandparents Have Rights in Minnesota?

Minnesota grandparents have no automatic right to see or raise a grandchild. Instead, the law offers a few specific legal paths, each with its own requirements:

• Visitation under Minn. Stat. § 257C.08. This is scheduled time with the child, while the parents keep custody. It is the subject of most of this article.
• Custody under Minn. Stat. ch. 257C. A grandparent may seek custody as a “de facto custodian” or an “interested third party” (Minn. Stat. § 257C.01). A de facto custodian has been the child’s primary caretaker, without a parent present, for six months if the child is under three, or one year if the child is three or older, within the 24 months before filing. See Grandparent Custody.
• Child protection cases. When a child is removed from a parent, the county must search for and notify adult relatives, including all adult grandparents, and consider them for placement (Minn. Stat. § 260C.221).

In every path, the parents’ constitutional rights set the outer limits, as explained below.

A Parent’s Constitutional Rights Come First

Fit parents have a fundamental right to make decisions about their children, including who spends time with them. The United States Supreme Court has held that courts must give special weight to a fit parent’s decision about visitation (Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57 (2000)).

Applying that principle, the Minnesota Supreme Court held that a third party seeking visitation must prove the statutory requirements by clear and convincing evidence. The court also struck down the subdivision that placed the burden on the parent to prove interference (SooHoo v. Johnson, 731 N.W.2d 815 (Minn. 2007)).

When a Grandparent May Petition

Under Minn. Stat. § 257C.08, a grandparent may seek visitation in only a few situations:

• A parent has died. The parents and grandparents of a deceased parent may petition. The court considers how much contact they had with the child before the petition (subd. 1).
• A family court case exists. During or after a divorce, custody, legal separation, annulment, or parentage case, a grandparent may ask the court for visitation (subd. 2).
• The child lived with the grandparent. If a child lived with grandparents or great-grandparents for at least 12 months and a parent then removed the child, they may petition (subd. 3).

Separately, any person other than a foster parent with whom a child lived for two years or more may petition. That person must also show emotional ties amounting to a parent-child relationship (subd. 4).

If none of these situations applies, a grandparent cannot bring a visitation case.

What the Grandparent Must Prove

In each situation, the court may grant visitation only if it finds two things:

1. visitation would be in the child’s best interests; and
2. visitation would not interfere with the parent-child relationship.

Under SooHoo, the grandparent bears the burden of proving both by clear and convincing evidence. In practice, the parent’s wishes carry substantial weight.

Adoption and Other Limits

The statute generally does not apply after a child is adopted by someone other than a stepparent or grandparent. Any existing visitation order ends automatically upon such an adoption (subd. 5). However, after a stepparent adoption, the parents of a deceased or former parent may still petition in limited circumstances (subd. 6).

In addition, a visitation case may not be combined with a domestic abuse proceeding under chapter 518B. If a visitation motion is heard and denied, a new motion generally may not be filed for six months.

How Much Visitation

The statute authorizes “reasonable” visitation. Visitation for a grandparent is not equivalent to a parent’s parenting time. Instead, orders typically provide for a modest schedule that does not disrupt the parent’s household.

Starting a Case

A visitation petition is filed in the county where the child lives or where an earlier custody order was entered, and it is served personally on the parents (Minn. Stat. § 257C.03, subd. 1).