visitation rights of paternal grandparents

[crazzeecathy]

What is the name of your state?California
A friend of mine that lives in Cario,Georgia has recently lost her son.He had a daughter who he rarely had contact with. My friend has always tried to keep in touch but the mother has only let her see her granddaughter 4 times.My friend wants to know if she has any rights about visitation. She would also like to know if so, whom should she contact in her state to get information about obtaining regular visitation rights? She doesn't know if her son is named as father on the birth certifcate,how can she find out this information? Where should she look? My friend doesn't want any trouble,she just wants to be able to visit on a regular basis.Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[tigger22472]

What is the name of your state?California
A friend of mine that lives in Cario,Georgia has recently lost her son.He had a daughter who he rarely had contact with. My friend has always tried to keep in touch but the mother has only let her see her granddaughter 4 times.My friend wants to know if she has any rights about visitation. She would also like to know if so, whom should she contact in her state to get information about obtaining regular visitation rights? She doesn't know if her son is named as father on the birth certifcate,how can she find out this information? Where should she look? My friend doesn't want any trouble,she just wants to be able to visit on a regular basis.Any help is greatly appreciated.

She does not automatically have any rights and it will be difficult for her to get some also. In order to be successful in GPV they must prove that they have had an ongoing, continuing relationship with the child and it is in the child's best intrest for that to continue being the case. If dad never established paternity than that's another obsticle. They are best speaking to an attorney on this issue, however, they shouldn't get their hopes extremely high.

 

[dallas702]

Just FYI: Ohio has just ruled (again) in favor of grandparents rights to visitation...this time without the parents having been married. The trend is pretty strong across the country. Go to the GA state website (probably www.GA.gov) and search for "grandparent's rights or grandparent's visitation. That should give you (her) the basics).

Use this link: http://search1.georgia.gov/search?ie=&site=georgia&output=xml_no_dtd&client=georgia&lr=&proxystylesheet=georgia&oe=&restrict=&fpViewPage=Search+Results&fpDocCount=&q=grandparents+visitation

 

[LdiJ]

She does not automatically have any rights and it will be difficult for her to get some also. In order to be successful in GPV they must prove that they have had an ongoing, continuing relationship with the child and it is in the child's best intrest for that to continue being the case. If dad never established paternity than that's another obsticle. They are best speaking to an attorney on this issue, however, they shouldn't get their hopes extremely high.

Georgia case law has actually addressed this issue....you are absolutely correct, this particular grandmother would have very little chance of prevailing in a gpv case. If her son's paternity was not established, then she has virtually no chance at all. It would be in her best interest to establish a friendly relationship with mom if she wants to see her grandchild.

 

[LdiJ]

Just FYI: Ohio has just ruled (again) in favor of grandparents rights to visitation...this time without the parents having been married. The trend is pretty strong across the country. Go to the GA state website (probably www.GA.gov) and search for "grandparent's rights or grandparent's visitation. That should give you (her) the basics).

Use this link: http://search1.georgia.gov/search?ie=&site=georgia&output=xml_no_dtd&client=georgia&lr=&proxystylesheet=georgia&oe=&restrict=&fpViewPage=Search+Results&fpDocCount=&q=grandparents+visitation

Yes, the Ohio Supreme Court did rule on this issue...however you should read the case carefully and the circumstances of the case. The child in that case lived in the grandparent's home for 5 years, 2 or three of them after the death of the child's mother.

Also, this is not the "trend" across the country...at least not in the way that you imply. Prior to Troxel, the trend was that any grandparent who asked for visitation, got it, and it was generally similar to ncp visitation. (that is simplistic, but pretty much how it worked).

The trend now is that almost every state, either by case law or legislation has severely limited/restricted the use of their gpv statutes. The trend is that grandparents must demonstrate either a substantial existing relationship with the child and/or that the child will be harmed in some way by a lack of visitation with the grandparent. The grandparents must demonstrate something that justifies the judge violating a fit parent's right to make decisions regarding their children. Again, that's simplistic but it would take a book to explain it more fully.