Grandparent Rights in Minnesota

By Matt Majeski, Minnesota divorce and family law attorney since 2008. Last reviewed October 2026.

What are Grandparent Rights?

“Grandparent rights” isn’t a legal term. Instead, it’s the everyday phrase for grandparents getting legal access to their grandchildren. It covers two main kinds of cases:

• Grandparent visitation, and
• Third-party custody

Grandparent Visitation

Grandparent visitation means one or both grandparents get court-ordered time with a grandchild.

Parents can generally let anyone they choose see their children. So, often, this isn’t an issue. Ideally, grandparents see their grandchildren through the parents.

However, problems can arise when one parent has died or isn’t involved, and the other parent doesn’t get along with the grandparents.

In that case, the parent has no legal duty to let the grandparents visit. Fortunately, Minnesota law lets grandparents ask the court for visitation in certain situations. For example:

• The grandchild’s parent (the grandparent’s son or daughter) has died,
• The parents are going through, or have gone through, a divorce, custody, legal separation, annulment, or paternity case, or
• The grandchild lived with the grandparent for 12 months or more and was then removed from the home by the parents.

“How Can I See my Grandchildren?”

To get visitation, you’ll generally need to show that:

• Visitation with the grandparent is in the child’s best interests, and
• Visitation with the grandparent would not interfere with the parent-child relationship.

Also, courts give special weight to a fit parent’s choices about who their child sees. So be prepared to show why the court should order visitation over the parent’s objection.

Keep in mind that a visitation order only gives you the right to visit the child. If you want the right to make decisions for the child, you’d have to seek custody.

Third Party Custody

Third-party custody means a grandparent (or another non-parent) gets court-ordered legal or physical custody of a child.

Third-party custody is broader than grandparent visitation, both in the rights it grants and in who can ask for it. In fact, it applies to anyone other than a parent, so the person doesn’t have to be a grandparent.

How Do I Get Custody of my Grandchild?

You can bring a third-party custody case in two ways:

• As a de facto custodian, or
• As an interested third party.

Before a court can award custody, you must prove that you’re one or the other.

Showing a grandparent is a De Facto Custodian

A de facto custodian must prove, by clear and convincing evidence, that:

• They have been the child’s primary caretaker,
• The child has lived with them as their caretaker for at least 6 months (if the child is under 3) or at least 1 year (if the child is 3 or older), and
• During that time, the parent refused or neglected to perform the duties of a parent, such as providing food, clothing, shelter, and education and promoting the child’s physical, mental, and emotional health.

Showing a grandparent is an Interested 3rd Party

An interested third party must prove, by clear and convincing evidence, at least one of the following:

• The parent has abandoned, neglected, or otherwise shown disregard for the child’s well-being, to the point that the child would be harmed by living with the parent,
• Placing the child with the parent would put the child in physical or emotional danger, or
• Other extraordinary circumstances exist.

Only after you prove one of these can the court decide whether a custody change is in the child’s best interests. To do that, it uses the statutory factors.

Grandparent Rights at Court

In Minnesota, grandparents’ rights are not equal to parents’ rights. Parents have constitutional rights to raise their children, so grandparents start at a disadvantage. That’s why most grandparents in these cases hire a family law attorney.

These cases call for careful attention to the facts and to proper procedure. That way, the court can respect parental rights while still protecting the child’s best interests.

Have another divorce or family law question? See our list of topics or the FAQ page.

Related reading: Third-Party Custody in Minnesota.