adoptive grandparents rights?

[uncle77]

What is the name of your state? Indiana

What is the name of your state? Indiana

My in-laws are involved in a unique situation, and I was hoping someone here could give some advice on it. My wife and her sister are adopted, and her sister has two children. In the past year, my wife and her parents have become estranged from the sister, who has promptly found her biological mother and is attempting to be re-adopted by her (their biological mother gave up rights to them many years ago). She has cut all ties with us and her parents, and has done everything in her power to prevent the children from seeing their grandparents. She got violent with us at one point, and promptly filed protective orders against my wife and her parents (we have all been seeing the children through her ex-husband). She has gotten a reputation for filing false protective orders in the county we live in (the courts recently rejected her latest attempt), so she has done the same thing in the county she lives in now.

My in-laws are planning on suing for grandparent's rights, and I was wondering if anyone had any insights as to their chances, and what they'd need to do to be successful. They want to see their grandchildren, and they're great grandparents, and the kids both love them to death. Again, they're adopted, and after this big blow-up their mother won't allow them to contact them, and won't let them even refer to them as their grandparents. Can anyone offer any advice? Thanks!

[tigger22472]

Seeing as they would be suing their own child it is unlikely that they would win. Parents have the constitutional right to raise their children as they see fit. These grandparents would have to show to a court that it is in the children's best interest that visitation occur and that will be a tough barrier to cross.

Indiana allows the provision to sue for grandparents rights providing the parents are divorced or one parent is deceased... but in general the grandparents that sue are suing the party which is not their child.

Their best bet is to stay in good graces with the father as your SIL cannot stop him from allowing whomever he chooses (absent abuse) around the children on his time.

To add to this if the biological mother adopts your SIL then these grandparents would no longer legally be so.

[LdiJ]

Originally Posted by tigger22472

Seeing as they would be suing their own child it is unlikely that they would win. Parents have the constitutional right to raise their children as they see fit. These grandparents would have to show to a court that it is in the children's best interest that visitation occur and that will be a tough barrier to cross.

Indiana allows the provision to sue for grandparents rights providing the parents are divorced or one parent is deceased... but in general the grandparents that sue are suing the party which is not their child.

Their best bet is to stay in good graces with the father as your SIL cannot stop him from allowing whomever he chooses (absent abuse) around the children on his time.

To add to this if the biological mother adopts your SIL then these grandparents would no longer legally be so.

Case law on this subject in Indiana has gone back and forth between favoring the grandparents and favoring the parents. However since Troxel it has been much more difficult for a grandparent in Indiana to win a visitation case.

The higher courts in Indiana haven't ruled on the issue of what happens if the adult child (parent of grandchild) does an adult adoption.

[uncle77]

[quote=tigger22472]

Their best bet is to stay in good graces with the father as your SIL cannot stop him from allowing whomever he chooses (absent abuse) around the children on his time.
[quote]

On this comment...my SIL placed a protective order against my ILs just about a week ago and named both of the children on the order, stemming from an incident where the ILs attended one of their grandson's football games. There was no confrontation, she was just upset that they attended and put the order on them to prevent them from coming to future events involving the children (and presumably preventing them from seeing them over the holidays) Would you recommend them not visiting the kids even with their father's permission/supervision, or do you think that would be a violation? The protective order lists the SIL as the primary, but she included her children and her new husband on it. They're fighting it (like I said in a previous message, she tried to place one on them in our home county, but they were denied-the office knows that she's placed repeated false orders on them), but they're concerned the courts will be delayed until after the holidays. Thanks everyone also for the advice!

[LdiJ]

[quote=uncle77][quote=tigger22472]

Their best bet is to stay in good graces with the father as your SIL cannot stop him from allowing whomever he chooses (absent abuse) around the children on his time.

On this comment...my SIL placed a protective order against my ILs just about a week ago and named both of the children on the order, stemming from an incident where the ILs attended one of their grandson's football games. There was no confrontation, she was just upset that they attended and put the order on them to prevent them from coming to future events involving the children (and presumably preventing them from seeing them over the holidays) Would you recommend them not visiting the kids even with their father's permission/supervision, or do you think that would be a violation? The protective order lists the SIL as the primary, but she included her children and her new husband on it. They're fighting it (like I said in a previous message, she tried to place one on them in our home county, but they were denied-the office knows that she's placed repeated false orders on them), but they're concerned the courts will be delayed until after the holidays. Thanks everyone also for the advice!

As long as the protective order is in place they needs to stay away. Otherwise they put themselves at too much risk.

[GodsChildren05]

Why doesn't your il just let it go. Don't they think that it would be best for the children to not be involved in something like this. I guess there must be more to the story that I am not seeing here. Why are your il interacting with their ex sil? Just seems to go much deeper....