This is Todd Burnham, the Founding Partner of Burnham Law, and an experienced family law lawyer with a superb record. This is a short post that will details exactly who can make a claim for custody of a child.
Who can get Custody?
Anyone can make a claim for custody of a child even if they aren’t the biological parents. What is
important is “Standing.” Standing is the legal basis for asserting claims; it asks if the party has the ability
to demonstrate to the court that they have enough of a connection to this case. Essentially, do they
have a dog in the fight?
Anyone can make a claim for custody, so long as they have standing. In certain situations, grandparents
can make a claim. For example, if they had an uninterrupted 6 months of custody or parenting time. It
doesn’t have to be grandparents either. If another, even unrelated party, can show standing (for
example, with the 6 months of parenting time) then they can make a claim for custody.