Judgment Against Grandparents in Child Custody Fight
We sometimes meet with grandparents who are worried about their child’s ability to raise their grandchildren. Sometimes the grandparents are in a child custody fight. Most often they are genuinely concerned about real shortcomings. Occasionally their complaint is really about access being cut off. But last week we read a story about a grandmother and […]
Grandparent Guardianship Order Reversed
We regularly talk with grandparents who are distressed about how their grandchildren are being raised. Wouldn’t it be better, they ask, if the child could live in a stable, loving home? Particularly in those cases where they have been raising their grandchildren for years already? Parents’ rights Our usual answer: not unless both parents agree, […]
Court Orders Weekly Visitation for Grandmother of Child
NOVEMBER 30, 2015 VOLUME 22 NUMBER 44 When Mary Lansing (not her real name) gave birth to a daughter in August, 2013, her boyfriend (and the father of her daughter) was already in prison. Four months later, she filed a paternity action naming her boyfriend, and sought a court order granting her sole legal decision […]
Custody of Grandchild Requires Court Consideration of Best Interests
AUGUST 19, 2013 VOLUME 20 NUMBER 31 National Grandparents Day is September 8th this year. That should serve as a reminder for us to consider changing demographics: grandparents (and great-grandparents) are living longer, and increasingly fractured families are changing our expectations and default assumptions about caring for children. More grandchildren are being raised by their […]
State High Court Strikes Down Grandparent Visitation Law
AUGUST 18, 2003 VOLUME 11, NUMBER 7 A decision by the Michigan Supreme Court is the most recent to address the issue of grandparents’ rights to visit their grandchildren. In the Michigan case, the state law giving grandparents rights was found to be unconstitutional. Not all states have reached the same result—Arizona courts, for example, […]
Adoption By Grandparents Set Aside Years Later As Fraudulent
JANUARY 13, 2003 VOLUME 10, NUMBER 28 As American families become more mobile and previously unusual family relationships become more common, grandparents are increasingly likely to be involved in raising their grandchildren. This has led to an increase in the legal problems faced by seniors, especially when family members become less cooperative with one another. […]
States Differ On Grandparents’ Rights To Visit Grandchildren
JULY 30, 2001 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 5 When the United States Supreme Court decided its landmark case regarding grandparents’ visitation rights in June of 2000, the Justices might have thought they were laying many of the legal issues to rest. Troxel v. Granville decided that the law in Washington State giving grandparents the right to […]
Grandparent Visitation Rights Upheld In Arizona Court Case
JANUARY 1, 2001 VOLUME 8, NUMBER 27 In June of 2000 the U.S. Supreme Court decided the case of Troxel v. Granville, concerning the rights of grandparents to secure court-ordered visitation with their grandchildren. In the wake of that case many observers predicted that no such right could survive. Arizona’s Court of Appeals last week […]
