can i sue ex-son in law for mental aguish

can i sue my ex-son in law for mental anguish, pain, and suffering. he has taken my granddaughters and refuses to let us see them. it is making me physically ill. i don't think i have ever heard of such a thing but i bet it can be done. any advice?????? thanks

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by kdill:
[b]can i sue my ex-son in law for mental anguish, pain, and suffering. he has taken my granddaughters and refuses to let us see them. it is making me physically ill. i don't think i have ever heard of such a thing but i bet it can be done. any advice?????? thanks[/b]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

No. If your State, Texas, has statutes regarding "Grandparent Rights" you can file a petition in the Family Law court nearest to where the children live, and to seek visitation, subject to the new U.S. Supreme Court case, and decision, in:

Troxel vs. Granville(2000)___U.S.___
No. 99-138. Decided June 6, 2000

In this case, the lower court increased parents' rights vis a vis grandparents and other non-parent parties.

The parents in this case had never been married. There were two girls born of the relationship. The girls' father committed suicide in 1993. Before, and especially after the father's death, the girls'
grandparents were active in the girls' lives.

The girls' mother remarried. After the marriage, the girls' mother limited the grandparents' visits somewhat. The grandparents went to court, to keep their full access.

Washington State law allowed anyone to seek visitation time with the children, if the judge believed it would be in the child's best interest.

In this case, the judge in Washington State gave the grandparents about half of a typical parental level of visitation: one weekend each month, one week in the summer, and four hours on each girl's birthday.

At the State Supreme Court level, the judge's ruling was overturned, and the Washington State law was found to be too broad. The United States Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.

The U.S. Supreme court agreed that the law was too broad, and decided in favor of the mother.

For example, Washington State's law did not require any showing that the mother was unfit before allowing a judge to overrule her decision about who should have visitation rights.

This is surely not the end of the laws and cases in this area. The case did not rule on many other state's laws that also grant
grandparents' rights.

But, for now, mothers who are fit parents will be more able to exclude grandparents (and others) from obtaining legal visitation rights.
___________________________________

Emotional Tip:

Grandparents can play an important role in the lives of children.

It is tempting to try to exclude the parents of your ex-spouse from your children's lives.

But sometimes it may be the noble thing -- and good for your children - - to invite them in.

IAAL

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[This message has been edited by I AM ALWAYS LIABLE (edited June 12, 2000).]

why do i have to file in his home state? i am in texas he is in wyoming at this time in the air force, but has been transferred.

is JUST ME still out there someplace??????you had a lot of good answers for me when we first went to court back in december. we won our case (daughter was awarded visitation rights) but he has not let her see the kids. we have another court date set for june 15. she has filed contempt of court charges against him----BUT WE HAVE JUST FOUND OUT THAT HE IS BEING TRANSFERRED. ATTORNEY SAYS WYOMING WILL NOT RETAIN JURISDICTION----I CAN'T HARDLY BELIEVE THIS. CAN IT BE TRUE?????WILL THE COURT NOT DO ANYTHING TO STOP THIS?????/THIS IS THE THIRD TIME IN SIX YEARS THAT HE HAS DONE THIS.....HE HAS NOT PAID ONE PENNY IN FINES OR SERVED ONE SINGLE DAY IN JAIL YET
CAN THE AIR FORCE PROTECT HIM????????