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Web Log
: Grandparents' Rights
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From GrandparentVisitationBlog.com by Grant D. Griffiths, Attorney at Law
May 16, 2006
Can a child choose which parent to live with?
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe...
From Gary Diernfeld, MSW, RSW
Sometimes
parents involve their children in custody, residency and access matters
hoping the opinion of the child sways the outcome. At other times,
children may seek to initiate a change themselves. The child’s desire
may be due to conflict with a parent; seeking to be closer to a
particular school or friends; or even seeking to avoid reasonable
parental expectations looking instead to live with the parent with whom
they have greater albeit inappropriate freedoms. Thus children
sometimes wonder about their influence in such matters too.
Generally,
custody, residency and access decisions are matters for parents to
decide. When they are unable to reach a decision between themselves,
parents may turn to a counsellor for guidance. If that is unsuccessful,
parents may then turn to a mediator and if that is unsuccessful, they
may turn to the court.
Generally, custody, residency and access
decisions are matters for parents to decide. When they are unable to
reach a decision between themselves, parents may turn to a counsellor
for guidance. If that is unsuccessful, parents may then turn to a
mediator and if that is unsuccessful, they may turn to the court.
With regard to the input of children, the older the child, they more weight their input can have in the decision making process.
Often
the age of twelve is considered a turning point when the opinion of a
child may begin to truly give added weight to these decisions. However,
there is nothing magical or automatic about that number. Maturity of
the child, the situation and parental influence will also be important
factors, not to mention the needs of the child and the respective
parent’s ability to meet those needs appropriately and in a timely
fashion. Therefore, being minors, the decision still remains the hands
of adults, be they the parents, professionals or Courts.
Parents are always cautioned against involving their children in custody, residency or access decisions.
In
the event a parent influences a child, the child may feel in a bind,
unable to resist the influence of the parent and not wanting to
undermine their relationship with the other parent. Hence influencing a
child only adds to their psychological and emotional distress living
between their separated parents. In these circumstances, parents must
ask themselves if what they are doing is truly for the child or their
own interest.
From the child’s perspective there can be all
sorts of legitimate reasons to alter their residency between separated
parents. However the child may not be privy as to how the custody,
residency or access decisions were arrived at in the first place. Hence
their view of the situation may not be fully informed. So well children
may form a reasonable argument in view of their desire, it still
remains between the parents to discuss and reach a decision.
Whether
child initiated or parent initiated, parents are encouraged to sit down
with each other and the older child and if unable to resolve matters
between themselves, consult a counsellor, mediator or lawyer to aid in
their decision making process.
Counsellors or mediators who work
for an agency may have long waiting lists for service. Those who are in
private practice, where the parents pay for service, are generally more
readily available. While parents may consult with the older child,
hopefully in the end they will keep the actual decision making process
to themselves.
Gary Direnfeld is a social worker. Courts in
Ontario, Canada, consider him an expert on child development,
parent-child relations, marital and family therapy, custody and access
recommendations, social work and an expert for the purpose of giving a
critique on a Section 112 (social work) report.
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From GrandparentVisitationBlog.com by Grant D. Griffiths, Attorney at Law
May 18, 2006
Bill provides help for grandparents raising grandchildren
Grandparents
raising grandchildren would get a helping hand from the state under
legislation that Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is expected to sign.
The
new aid is part of a wide-ranging bill upping what nursing care
residents can keep from their Social Security checks and barring
hunting and fishing licenses for parents behind in child support
payments.
Sebelius spokeswoman Nicole Corcoran said Thursday the
money for the program already is in the budget to finance state
government after July 1 and the governor plans to sign the legislation
before the May 26 deadline.
Under the proposal, grandparents
with legal custody of a grandchild would receive $200 a month, with a
limit of $600 for three. To qualify, grandparents must be at least 50
years old with a household income of less than 130 percent of the
federal poverty level, or $21,580 for a household of three.
Such
a program would allow more children from troubled families to be raised
by grandparents rather than being placed in state custody and foster
homes.
Source for Post: KansasCity.com
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From GrandparentVisitationBlog.com by Grant D. Griffiths, Attorney at Law
June 09, 2006
Nebraska Upholds Grandparent Visitation Statute
The
Nebraska Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of its
grandparent visitation statutes and affirmed a trial court's award of
visitation to the children's paternal grandparents. Under the Nebraska
grandparent visitation statutes, grandparents can seek visitation only
under certain circumstances: if the grandchild’s parent or parents are
deceased, divorced or in the process of seeking a divorce, or have
never been married but paternity has been legally established.
Moreover, a court is without authority to order grandparent visitation
unless a petitioning grandparent can prove by clear and convincing
evidence that (1) there is, or has been, a significant beneficial
relationship between the grandparent and the child; (2) it is in the
best interests of the child that such relationship continue; and (3)
such visitation will not adversely interfere with the parent-child
relationship. The court concluded that these statutes are narrowly
drawn and explicitly protect parental rights while taking the child’s
best interests into consideration so as to withstand strict scrutiny.
Hamit v. Hamit, 271 Neb. 659 (June 2, 2006)
Source for Post: Family Law Prof Blog
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From GrandparentVisitationBlog.com by Grant D. Griffiths, Attorney at Law
July 18, 2006
Arizona Granparent Rights Decision
Grandparent
rights case not dismissed from superior court where jurisdiction was
based on child being born out-of-wedlock,'when
subsequently'parents'remarry.' See Fry v. Garcia, CA-CV 05-0663. For
Arizona Grandparent Rights matters contact Nirenstein Ruotolo Group.
Source for Post Arizona Family Law Blog.
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From GrandparentVisitationBlog.com by Grant D. Griffiths, Attorney at Law
September 25, 2006
Children Need Their Grandparents After Divorce
If
you are interested in the grandparent-grandchild relationship, you
might enjoy the following article, 'Kids Need Contact With Their
Grandparents After Divorce' by Eva Neuman:
When a family breaks
up, everyone suffers' children, parents and also grandparents, who
suddenly have to face the fact that they may not see their
grandchildren any more or if they are able to maintain contact, they
find it greatly reduced.
In many countries, grandparents have
visitation rights by law if it's in the best interest of the child.
However, the grandparents must prove this in family court. The parents
and grandparents are strongly urged to sit down and work out
arrangements responsibly and considerately before a fight erupts.
The relationship between children and their grandchildren is important.
'A
child learns another broad realm of experiences and acceptance through
their grandparents,' said professor Gerhard Amendt, a sociologist and
family researcher at the University of Bremen in Germany. 'They can
make the child feel a serenity that derives from their life experience
and their age.'
This perspective is different from that which
they could receive from their parents who have a stronger, more
structured influence on the life of a child.
Grandparents become
important figures for children, whose world often collapses when
parents separate. They sometimes become allies of the child, and the
child might find them more reliable than their parents in providing
comfort. They cannot be blamed for causing the sadness the child feels
during a breakup.
In a practical sense grandparents often take on new tasks when a couple with children splits up.
'Many
divorces would not be realized if there weren't grandparents involved,'
said Ingrid Gross, a lawyer specializing in family law in Augsburg,
Germany. They step in with financial support and help look after the
kids, filling in for the missing partner.
In many cases contact
with the grandparents on the side of the partner who maintains custody
of the children, usually the mother, is strengthened.
Maintaining
relations with the grandparents of the other partner, usually the
father, is often more difficult. However, grandparents can also help in
this case.
'While a child is still young, many fathers are happy
to be able to spend a weekend with the child at the grandparents' home
because there he has practical help in how to take care of and raise
the child,' Gross said.
Breakups involving children become very
problematic when the situation is contentious and laden with conflict,
and when one of the partners is granted sole custody of the child, said
Rita Boegershausen, co-founder of an initiative based in Essen,
Germany, for grandparents of children involved in separations and
divorce.
The danger in such cases is that the partners
automatically identify their in-laws as members of the 'enemy camp' and
cut off contact entirely.
'It's important that grandparents stay
out of the conflict as much as possible even though they most likely
feel closer to their own child than their son- or daughter-in-law,'
said Boegershausen. The best thing a grandparent can offer the child is
neutrality within the relationship.
'During visits grandparents
should never try to agitate the child's feelings toward his mother or
father, and should keep a straight face with regard to the situation,'
Gross said. The child will repeat what he heard at home, and that could
bring an end to the grandparents' access to the child.
Thanks to Jeffrey Lalloway of the California Divorce and Family Law blog for his post about this article.
Source for Post South Carolina Family Law Blog.
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From GrandparentVisitationBlog.com by Grant D. Griffiths, Attorney at Law
November 02, 2006
Here Come the Great-Grandparents
There is a great article called Here Come the Great-Grandparents over at the New Yoke Times.
As stated on the Family Law Prof Blog:
"There
have always been great-grandparents. But because Americans are living
longer and are healthier now than in previous generations, demographers
say more people are likely to have at least one living
great-grandparent, and to have that great-grandparent in their lives
longer.
Kenneth W. Wachter, the chairman of the department of
demography at the University of California, Berkeley, has estimated
that by 2030, more than 70 percent of 8-year-olds will likely have a
living great-grandparent. It is a phenomenon that Kevin Kinsella, the
head of the Aging Studies branch of the United States Census Bureau,
has referred to as a great-grandparent boom. “We know we’re living a
lot longer than we used to,” Mr. Kinsella said. “It seems logical if
people are living well into their 90s now, and there are centenarians,
a lot of people are going to be great-grandparents.”" By Stephanie
Rosenbloom, N.Y. Times
Go to the link above for the entire article.
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From GrandparentVisitationBlog.com by Grant D. Griffiths, Attorney at Law
February 06, 2007
Kentucky: Grandparent Visitation
This case is not yet final.
Vanwinkle v. Petry, __ S.W.3d __ (Ky. App. 2007), 2007 WL 121965 (Ky. App.)
Trial
Court ordered that Grandparents were to approve any change in Mother’s
visitation with children, though Mother and Father shared joint
custody. Trial Court also, sua sponte, increased maternal grandparents’
visitation with minor grandchildren from one to two weekends per month.
Issue One: May the Court, sua sponte¸ award visitation to grandparents?
Analysis:
No. Pursuant to KRS 405.021, grandparents have the right to petition a
trial court for visitation with their grandchildren; however, if the
parents object, the grandparents must prove, by clear and convincing
evidence, that such visitation would be in the grandchildren’s best
interest, considering such factors as the nature and stability of the
relationship between the child and the grandparent seeking visitation;
the amount of time spent together; the potential detriments and
benefits to the child from granting visitation; the effect granting
visitation would have on the child’s relationship with the parents; the
physical and emotional health of all the adults involved, parents and
grandparents alike; the stability of the child’s living and schooling
arrangements; the wishes and preferences of the child. The grandparent
seeking visitation must prove, by clear and convincing evidence, that
the requested visitation is in the best interest of the child. Thus,
the grandparents must file a Petition for visitation in order to
receive it, including additional visitation, and the trial court must
make a finding that such visitation is in the child’s best interest.
Issue
Two: May the court order that a non-custodian must approve changes in a
parenting time schedule, especially where the non-custodian is a party
to the action due to his visitation rights?
Analysis: No. Such
an arrangement violates the parents’ rights under Troxel v. Granville,
wherein the United States Supreme Court stated that ‘it cannot now be
doubted that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment
protects the fundamental right of parents to make decisions concerning
the care, custody, and control of their children.’ Even though a parent
has a fundamental and constitutionally protected right to make
decisions regarding his or her child, that right is not unfettered, as
the trial court has the power to set and modify custody and may remove
a child from a parent’s custody where supported by the law. This does
not allow the Court, however, to grant any decision-making ability to
anyone other than custodians of the children.
Source for Post: LouisvilleDivorce.
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From GrandparentVisitationBlog.com by Grant D. Griffiths, Attorney at Law
March 27, 2007
Supreme Court Won’t Review Grandparent Case
A
widowed father lost his bid Monday to have the Supreme Court decide
whether grandparents should have court-ordered visits with his son.
The
justices refused to get involved in the dispute between Shane Fausey, a
federal-prison guard in Pennsylvania, and his dead wife's mother.
Cheryl
Hiller won rulings in Pennsylvania courts giving her regular visits
with Fausey's son, Kaelen, over the father's objection.
Grandparents
do not have to prove that being kept away would be harmful to their
grandchildren in order to get court-ordered visitation, the
Pennsylvania Supreme Court said.
Fausey said the court ruling violated his constitutional right to make parenting decisions.
The
Supreme Court has never answered that constitutional question and state
courts are divided on the issue. Twelve states prohibit courts from
ordering grandparent visitation unless it can be shown that the child
would be harmed by their absence, Fausey's lawyers said in court papers.
The case is Fausey v. Hiller, 06-863.
Source for Post: NY Times
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From GrandparentVisitationBlog.com by Grant D. Griffiths, Attorney at Law
May 22, 2007
Grandmother Granted Visitation by Appeals Court
The Appellate Division granted a grandmother visitation with her grandchildren in the case In the Matter of Carol Steinhauser.
Of significance, the Court noted that that mere animosity between the children’s father and his mother-in law was not a sufficient basis for denying visitation. In the brief opinion, the Court, after detailing the two pronged-inquiry for considering a grandparent’s petition for visitation,concluded that visitation would be in the best interests of the children.
For more, visit the New York Divorce and Family Law Blog
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©2007 The Legal Intelligencer Online
Page printed from: http://www.thelegalintelligencer.com
Parental Separation Must Be Ongoing
When Grandparents’ Petition for Custody
Stephanie Lovett
05-22-2007
Grandparents seeking custody of or visitation rights to grandchildren can only petition for those rights at the time the children’s parents have been — and remain — separated for six months or more, the Superior Court has ruled in an issue of first impression.
In so ruling, the court denied the petition of a man seeking standing to gain visitation rights with his step-granddaughter, whose parents had separated and then reconciled.
The finding boiled down to a “plain language” reading of the relevant section of Pennsylvania’s Custody and Grandparent’s Visitation Act, which the court said showed that for act to apply, the parents must still be separated when the petition is filed.
“The GVA only applies where parents separated at least six months before the filing of the custody petition and remain separated at the time the petition is filed,” Senior Judge Justin Morris Johnson wrote in Helsel v. Puricelli.
Daniel V. Helsel had appealed an order by the Court of Common Pleas of Cambria County that had denied him standing to seek visitation rights to see his 6-year-old step-granddaughter Sophia.
The girl’s parents, Robert and Denise Puricelli, had separated in May 2004, but then reconciled in May 2005. Apparently unaware of the reconciliation, Helsel filed a complaint for visitation rights to see Sophia in January 2006, according to the opinion.
According to the Puricellis’ attorney, Andrew Gleason, Helsel was Denise’s stepfather and had adopted her when she was young.
Gleason, of Gleason McQuillan Barbin & Markovitz in Johnstown, said since Denise’s childhood there had been a lot of contention between her and Helsel.
Denise had testified that she “despised” Helsel, according to court papers.
Gleason said Denise’s mother — and biological grandmother of Sophia — was not a party to the case.
In July 2006, a master found that because the Puricellis had reconciled, Helsel was without standing to seek visitation, according to the opinion.
Cambria County Judge F. Joseph Leahey agreed, and Helsel appealed to the Superior Court, the opinion said.
The Superior Court noted that the question of whether a grandparent had standing to seek visitation where the grandchild’s parents had separated for more than six months, but had reconciled when the grandparent sought visitation rights in accordance with the Grandparents Visitation Act, was an issue of first impression for the court.
The section of the Grandparents Visitation Act at issue, the court said, is entitled “When parents’ marriage is dissolved or parents are separated.”
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