Effective January 1, 2019, the Illinois Grandparent Visitation Act (750 ILCS 5/602.9) will be modified to require that grandparents seeking visitation rights with grandchildren whose parents are not married, will only need to establish the parent child relationship with the parent to whom they are related.
Currently, parental grandparents need to establish paternity by a court of competent jurisdiction. Grandparents can petition a court for visitation if they are unreasonably denied visitation and if they can prove that the child is suffering undue emotional, physical or mental harm.