Would you allow a grandparent to have visitation rights with a grandchild over the objections of the parent(s)? What factors do you think a court should weigh in making these determinations
Would you allow a grandparent to have visitation rights with a grandchild over the objections of the parent(s)? What factors do you think a court should weigh in making these determinations?
Include evidence, examples, particular laws, or references from the textbooks with your answers.
Would you allow a grandparent to have visitation rights with a grandchild over the objections of the parent(s)? What factors do you think a court should weigh in making these determinations?
Include evidence, examples, particular laws, or references from the textbooks with your answers.
Child Custody 236 The Custodial and Visitation Rights of Grandparents between a and Stepparents ing reality in the upbr In loo Until this point, the focus of this chapter has been on custody and visitation questions: disputes between divorcing parents. In these disputes, the rights of each tion rights, party, at least in a formal legal sense, are deemed to be equal. Each is enti. dispute? TH tled to try to establish that an award of custody to him or her would further Standing is the best interest of the child. In this section, we turn to a consideration cient stake i of custody and visitation disputes between parents and "nonparents"_ tain a legal namely grandparents and stepparents.77 Some state In light of the fact that parents have a fundamental constitutional right such as divo to direct the upbringing of their children, including deciding who will have ing. In other access to them, in a dispute between a parent and a "nonparent," there is an more genera automatic preference in favor of the parent based on the assumption that under which he or she is best able to meet the child’s needs. Accordingly, as discussed family priva in this section, the basic rule is that a nonparent must establish something such as a pre more than best interest in order to maintain an ongoing relationship with a Once it child in the face of opposition from a parent. tion rights, th the dispute. ever, the dis Grandparents something m tionship with At common law, grandparents had no legal right of access to their of proof, mos grandchildren. Parents were said to have a moral but not a legal obliga- the denial of tion to permit grandparents to see their grandchildren. In essence, this As grand meant that a grandparent’s right of access was derivative; he or she had grandchildren no direct link to the child as the connection flowed through the related ter (or by a da parent. This rule was based on a number of considerations, including ing the consti the right of parents to control the upbringing of their children and the such laws wer concern that a legal dispute between grandparent and parent would be Initially, court destructive to the child, particularly if the child blamed him- or herself any intrusion for the controversy. children was This approach began to change in the 1960s, and today all states have with his or her statutes that, to varying degrees, modify the common law rule of no access in the case of Some states have enacted specific grandparent visitation statutes, while the grandparer others include grandparents within a broader third-party visitation stature While the The enhanced legal status of grandparents reflects a number of develop without un ments. First, with the graying of the population, the organizational and In an political clout of senior citizens, an important force behind these laws, has family, it is increased. Second, as the divorce rate has risen, increased attention has strengthen focused on the importance of providing children with con h continued access between a to essential relationships in order to help buffer the dislocation of divorce ent and gra And closely related is an increased awareness of how important the bond between the
The Custodial and Visitation Rights of Grandparents and Stepparents 237 between a grandparent and child can be.78 These statutes reflect the chang- ing reality of the U.S. family and the often-vital role that nonparents play in the upbringing of children. In looking at grandparent visitation statutes, it is helpful to ask two questions: (1) Under what circumstances may a grandparent seek visita- tion rights, and (2) what substantive standard will be used to resolve the dispute? The first question is often characterized as a matter of standing. Standing is a jurisdictional concept that requires a person to have a suffi- cient stake in the outcome of a controversy in order to be allowed to main- tain a legal action; if a party lacks standing, his or her action is dismissed. Some state statutes require that there be some kind of family disruption, such as divorce or parental death, in order for a grandparent to have stand- ing. In other states, however, the applicable statute gives grandparents a more general right to seek visitation without specifying the circumstances under which a petition can be filed; however, based on considerations of family privacy, some courts have sought to impose limiting qualifications, such as a prerequisite of family disruption. Once it is determined that a grandparent has standing to seek visita- tion rights, the next consideration is the standard to be used for resolving the dispute. Some states have adopted a best interest standard (see, how- ever, the discussion of Troxel), although judges generally require proof of something more than simply that the child would enjoy a continued rela- tionship with the grandparent. Other states have adopted a higher burden of proof, most frequently by requiring the grandparent(s) to establish that the denial of visitation rights would harm the child. As grandparents began turning to the courts to gain access to their grandchildren after contact had been denied or limited by a son or daugh- ter (or by a daughter- or son-in-law), some parents responded by challenge ing the constitutionality of the grandparent visitation laws, arguing that such laws were an unwarranted intrusion into the realm of family privacy. Initially, courts tended to uphold the validity of the statutes, finding that any intrusion into a fit parent’s right to direct the upbringing of his or her Children was offset by the benefit to the child of a continued relationship with his or her grandparent. As expressed by the Kentucky Supreme Court " the case of King v. King, these early decisions tended to sentimentalize the grandparent-grandchild relationship: While the Constitution . . . does recognize the right to rear children without undue governmental interference, that right is not inviolate. . . . In an era in which society has seen a general disintegration of the family , it is not not unreasonable for the General Assembly to attempt to Strengthen familial bonds. . . . There is no reason that a petty dispute between a father and son should be allowed to deprive a grandpar- font and grandchild of the unique relationship that ordinarily exists between those individuals . …
Collepals.com Plagiarism Free Papers
Are you looking for custom essay writing service or even dissertation writing services? Just request for our write my paper service, and we'll match you with the best essay writer in your subject! With an exceptional team of professional academic experts in a wide range of subjects, we can guarantee you an unrivaled quality of custom-written papers.
Get ZERO PLAGIARISM, HUMAN WRITTEN ESSAYS
Why Hire Collepals.com writers to do your paper?
Quality- We are experienced and have access to ample research materials.
We write plagiarism Free Content
Confidential- We never share or sell your personal information to third parties.
Support-Chat with us today! We are always waiting to answer all your questions.
