Yes, grandparents do have rights in Pennsylvania, but only in defined situations. Two statutes control the question: 23 Pa.C.S. § 5325 lets grandparents and great-grandparents ask for scheduled or supervised visitation in a handful of family circumstances, and 23 Pa.C.S. § 5324 lets them seek full custody when they have been acting as the child’s parent or when the child is at serious risk. Outside those situations, Pennsylvania courts will not override a fit parent’s decision about who spends time with the child.
When Grandparents Can Ask for Visitation
Section 5325 is the narrower and more common path. It covers partial physical custody, meaning regular scheduled time with the child, and supervised physical custody, meaning time under oversight. It does not allow a grandparent to become the child’s primary caregiver.
A grandparent or great-grandparent can file under § 5325 in three situations:
- A parent of the child has died. The parents or grandparents of the deceased parent can file. The surviving parent’s side of the family does not get standing through this provision.
- The child’s parents have started their own custody case and disagree about whether the grandparent should have time with the child. The grandparent’s relationship with the child must have begun with a parent’s consent or under a court order.
- The child lived with the grandparent for at least 12 consecutive months and was then removed by the parents. The grandparent has six months from the date of removal to file.
Every element of the chosen scenario has to be met. Missing one means the court has no authority to hear the case.1Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 23 Section 5325 – Standing for Partial Physical Custody and Supervised Physical Custody
One point worth clearing up: some online summaries claim grandparents can file whenever parents have been separated for six months. The statute does not say that. Under § 5325(2), the parents must have actually begun a custody proceeding and must disagree about grandparent time. Simple separation is not enough.
When Grandparents Can Seek Full Custody
Section 5324 is the broader path. It allows a grandparent to seek any form of custody the court can award, including primary physical custody, shared custody, and legal custody (the right to make major decisions about education, health care, and religion).
Two routes lead there. The first is in loco parentis, which means the grandparent has stepped into the role of a parent by handling day-to-day decisions, providing financial support, and serving as the child’s primary caregiver. A grandparent in that role can seek any custody arrangement without needing to show additional conditions.
The second route is for a grandparent who is not already acting as a parent but is willing to take responsibility for the child. The grandparent’s relationship with the child must have started with a parent’s consent or a court order, and at least one of these conditions must exist:
- The child has been declared dependent by a juvenile court.
- The child faces substantial risk because of parental abuse, neglect, substance abuse, or incapacity.
- The child has lived with the grandparent for 12 or more consecutive months and was then removed by the parents. The same six-month filing deadline applies.
Section 5324 is the path grandparents typically use when they have been raising a grandchild because a parent is struggling with addiction, incarceration, or has abandoned the child.2Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 23 Chapter 53 – Custody
The Parent’s Constitutional Advantage
Every grandparent case in Pennsylvania runs into a constitutional reality: parents have a fundamental right to direct their children’s upbringing. In Troxel v. Granville (2000), the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Washington state law that let a judge override a fit parent’s visitation decision based on the judge’s own view of the child’s best interests. The Court held that a fit parent’s judgment is entitled to special weight.3Library of Congress. Family Autonomy and Substantive Due Process
In practice, Pennsylvania courts begin from a presumption that a fit parent’s decision about grandparent contact is reasonable. A grandparent seeking custody over a parent’s objection carries the burden of showing that the arrangement genuinely benefits the child and that refusing it would work against the child’s interests. Wanting a relationship with the grandchild is not enough on its own. The grandparent has to show concrete benefit to the child.
Context changes the weight of that burden. A grandparent who raised a child for years while a parent struggled with addiction looks very different to a court than one who saw the child at holidays and now objects to a parent’s new arrangement.
How the Court Decides
Once standing is established, the court weighs the child’s best interests using the factors in Pennsylvania’s custody statute, which was amended in 2025. Safety and any history of abuse or violence in a party’s household carry substantial weight. The judge also looks at each party’s ability to meet the child’s daily needs, the child’s need for stability in school and community, bonds with siblings and other family, the child’s own well-reasoned preference weighted by maturity, the proximity of the parties, work schedules and child care availability, and any history of substance abuse or mental or physical health issues affecting a party or household member. The judge must address the relevant factors on the record and explain how each one influenced the decision.2Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 23 Chapter 53 – Custody
Grandparent cases filed under § 5325 add another layer. The court must also consider how much personal contact the grandparent had with the child before filing, whether the proposed custody time would interfere with the parent-child relationship, and whether the arrangement is in the child’s best interests. When the grandparent’s standing is based on the child having lived with them for 12 or more months, the prior-contact factor drops out, since the long residency already shows a close bond.
How Adoption Can End Grandparent Rights
Adoption can permanently cut off a grandparent’s standing. Under § 5326, when a child is adopted by anyone other than a stepparent, grandparent, or great-grandparent, any existing grandparent custody rights, and even the ability to seek them in the future, are automatically terminated. No hearing is needed; the adoption itself ends the legal connection.2Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 23 Chapter 53 – Custody
The exceptions matter. If a stepparent, grandparent, or great-grandparent adopts the child, existing grandparent rights are not automatically ended. That carve-out protects situations where the family is reorganizing but the grandparent is still part of the child’s life, such as when a stepparent adopts after a parent’s death.
If an outside adoption is possible, timing is critical. Once it is finalized, the door closes.
Filing a Case and What It Costs
A grandparent custody case starts with a complaint or petition for custody in the Court of Common Pleas in the county where the child lives. Filing fees vary by county; in Philadelphia, the fee for a custody, partial custody, or visitation petition is roughly $108.4Philadelphia Courts. Office of Judicial Records Fee Schedule Fees elsewhere typically run around $100 to $150. Some counties offer reductions or waivers for people who qualify by income.
Most counties require a conciliation conference before the case reaches a judge. A conciliator meets with the parties to try to work out an agreement. If they reach one, it gets written up, signed, and entered as a court order. If not, the case moves toward a hearing. Many counties also require the parties to attend a parenting education seminar before the case proceeds.
At a hearing, a grandparent should be prepared to document the relationship with the child: caregiving records, school involvement, medical appointments, photographs, and witnesses who have seen the grandparent and child together. The judge may interview a mature child privately and may appoint a guardian ad litem, a lawyer who represents the child’s interests independently.
Attorney fees are the biggest cost. Pennsylvania family law attorneys generally charge $150 to $350 per hour, and a contested case that reaches a hearing can run 20 to 50 or more hours. Cases that settle at conciliation cost far less. If a guardian ad litem is appointed, the parties may be ordered to share that cost.
Great-Grandparents Have the Same Rights
Pennsylvania treats great-grandparents the same as grandparents throughout this part of the law. Sections 5324, 5325, and 5326 all name both, so the standing requirements, best-interest analysis, procedural steps, and adoption termination rule apply equally. A great-grandparent who raised a child for 12 months stands on the same legal footing as a grandparent who did.1Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 23 Section 5325 – Standing for Partial Physical Custody and Supervised Physical Custody