There are three conditions where grandparents can petition the Children's Court for custody of their grandkids. The New Mexico Grandparents Visitation Privileges Act provides the following scenarios:  

We discussed one of those scenarios in our November 28, 2014 installment. That article focused on the Kinship-Guardianship process whereby grandparents can petition for custody and guardianship for their grandchildren in cases where the biological parents have left the children with grandma and grandpa for an extended period of time and with no real end in sight.

The second scenario is pretty easy to understand and that's when the child's or children's parent dies leaving the grandparents as the children's only suitable family to parent them. Sometimes this situation is covered in the biological parent's will or estate plan. Oftentimes it's not and the parent's death is quite unexpected.

The third situation is during any legal separation, divorce, or paternity case involving the children. For example, the parents are divorcing, grandparents can basically intervene in the case and petition the district court for custody of the children.

These scenarios are just that and do not guarantee that the grandparents will prevail. The Court must consider what is in the best interests of the child, the very same standard that the Court applies in all cases dealing with child custody. Often grandparents will need to prove through expert testimony why the Court should grant them custody as opposed to one of the biological parents or perhaps another intervening grandparent(s).

Another situation is a pending child abuse/neglect case. If the children are taken into CYFD custody because of allegations of suspected abuse/neglect by the biological parent(s) the grandparents can contact CYFD and fight for custody. In these types of cases there's a presumption that the child should be staying with blood relatives such as grandparents. The basic caveats are that the grandparents can provide a safe environment etc.

If you have additional questions, please contact me. Thanks