[Texas_shutterbug]

Grandparents rights are very difficult to get, since it is assumed that the parents are fit to raise the children as they believe.

Grandparents might get rights to visitation if they had acted in the place of a parent - say the child lived with the grandparents for some period of time - and that would fall under "the best interest of the child."

I'm sure there's exceptions, but that's generally the way it works.

[Dante3]

I didn't mean in reference to custody but visitations. Probably varies by state. But at least in some states if the parents are divorced or one dies, the grandparents have visitation rights.