See state-by-state guide to grandparents’ rights.
Coming Soon: As a service to our readers, Grandparents.com is establishing the American Grandparents AssociationTM with the goal of becoming a key resource for grandparents who are physically removed from their grandchildren and would like to find a way to visit them.
Richard Kent, a family lawyer at Fairfield, Conn.-based Meyers Breiner & Kent, frequently goes to courtroom battle for grandparents seeking visitation with, or custody of, grandchildren.
“The state of grandparents’ rights is terrible,” says Kent. Under the current laws, if a couple’s adult daughter dies, he says, those grandparents could be denied visitation with their grandchild by the child’s father.
Even if they had what most people would consider a classic grandparent-grandchild relationship and, let’s say, saw their grandchild every Sunday afternoon. But in the eyes of Connecticut law, says Kent, unless grandparents have functioned as de facto parents — meaning they lived with their grandchildren or took care of them while the parents were at work — they are treated no differently than strangers.
“I think it’s absurd that a boy’s father can legally keep his grandparents out of his life,” says Kent, who wrote Solomon’s Choice: A Guide to Custody for Ex-Husbands, Spurned Partners, & Forgotten Grandparents (Taylor Trade Publishing).
Families crumble for any number of reasons: divorce, the death of a parent, drug and alcohol abuse, incarceration. Grandparents in the U.S. do have rights and can seek visitation with grandchildren, but those rights vary from state to state. Understanding your basic rights can help ensure that your relationship with the grandchildren doesn’t end should that with their parents. Of course, every case involves a unique set of facts and grandparents who find themselves suddenly cut off from grandchildren should consult a lawyer to discuss the course of action their specific situations require.
When Grandparents’ Rights Changed
In June 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 6-3 decision on grandparents’ visitation rights in the Troxel v. Granville case. This canceled out a Washington State law that permitted judges to grant visitation to any interested party so long as the visits were in the best interest of the child — even if the parents objected.
The Troxel v. Granville decision was ambiguous because while the majority of the justices agreed that Troxel should be decided a certain way, each had a different reason for doing so which resulted in six written opinions.
This makes it hard for state courts to interpret the decision. Despite this and the narrow set of facts in which the case dealt, Troxel v. Granville has become the basis for all subsequent discussion of grandparents’ rights.
Parent Vs. Grandparent: Whose Call Is It?
The case dates back to 1993, when Brad Troxel committed suicide in Washington State. Brad left behind two daughters and their mother, Tommie Granville, whom he had never married. Brad and Tommie were estranged at the time of his death, but Brad’s parents, Gary and Jenifer, kept visiting their grandchildren after the suicide. When Tommie remarried and her new husband adopted the daughters she’d had with Brad, Tommie limited the grandparents’ visits.
The Troxels wanted more time with their grandchildren and went to court for it, citing Washington State’s third-party visitation law, which said they had the right to visit so long as it was in the best interest of the children. A trial judge agreed.
The Supreme Court, however, did not and found the Washington State law “breathtakingly broad,” arguing that it infringed upon parental rights. It struck down the Washington Supreme Court’s decision, which had granted the Troxel grandparents rights to more visitation.
While groups such as AARP filed court papers in favor of grandparents’ rights, the parents’ rights groups hailed the Supreme Court decision in favor of Tommie Granville a victory. Groups such as the Coalition for the Restoration of Parental Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union applauded the decision which gave “fit” parents the final say on how to raise their children — including whether grandparents could see them.
Children's Rights 