The bond between a grandparent and grandchild may be as strong as or stronger than that between a parent and child. However, family courts in Georgia and across the nation have long held that parents generally have the right to keep grandparents and grandchildren apart. Recently, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear a case challenging this long-established rule.
The case involved a set of grandparents in Alabama who had petitioned to have visitation rights granted for their two teenaged granddaughters. Such rights can absolutely be granted by a judge, unless the parents oppose this kind of visitation. In these cases, the law becomes more complicated.
Unless parents relinquish their rights, are deemed unfit or some other extraordinary circumstance arises, parents have a constitutional right to decide many things about how their children are raised. In general, they have the right to prohibit their children from contact with other individuals, including certain other family members.
So, in the case of fit parents who oppose grandparent visitation, the courts generally have very little room to impose grandparent visitation rights. Exceptions are most often made if the grandparent has played a primary caregiver role in the child's life prior to a parent's challenge regarding grandparent visitation.
The issue of contested grandparent visitation is both complicated and sensitive. Many grandparent advocates had hoped that the Supreme Court would examine the issue more closely. Please check back in later this week, as we discuss the case in more detail and explore why the Supreme Court's refusal to entertain an appeal is practically significant.
Source: Christian Science Monitor, "Do grandparents get visitation rights? Supreme Court declines case," Warren Richey, Feb. 21, 2012
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