New Mexico has several statutes by which grandparents can obtain court-orders for visitation with their grandchildren, or even custody of the children from the parents. The main statute is the "Grandparent's Visitation Privileges Act". This statute provides that, if a child has resided with the grandparent for certain lengths of time, and then is removed or taken away by a parent or some other person, the grandparent has legal standing to petition the Court for a court-order allowing visitation. Other statutes allow grandparents to obtain legal custody of grandchildren, such as New Mexico's Abuse and Neglect Act which applies to people with poor or unlawful parenting skills. Many young parents have poor parenting skills and in these cases, the Courts are very receptive to intervention by the grandparents.

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