I live in New York out on Long Island in Suffolk County. Years ago my daughter and I and my family had a falling out because we didn't approve of the guy she was dating. He's extremely controllling...has isolated her of all friends and family. My grandsaon was born September 16, 2008 and I have never been able to see him nor has anyone in my immediate family. She may even have another child at this point I don't know. I would like to know what my rights are as far as visitation. My heart aches and I want to be able to see my grandson and be a part of his life.
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Visitation Rights as a Grandmother
- Thread starter Ree64
- Start date
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You have the right to attempt to reconcile with your daughter and hope she'll allow you to be a part of the child(ren)'s life.
Barring that, are you asking if you would be able to sue for visistation?
Because your chances in that situation whould be very limited. You have not been a part of the child(ren)'s lives, your daughter has a constitutional right to parent her child(ren), and you cannot prove in any way that the children would be harmed by not having a relationship with you (since it would appear that they are not being harmed by you not being part of their lives in the first place).
You have no legal rights to this child or any other she may have.
Proserpina
Senior Member
Don't we have at least one NY resident who had GPV ordered against her will even without evidence of a strong bond with the child/ren in question?
I'm not sure if it would be Liandra or Rushia, but in this care there is NO bond between grandparent and child.
Proserpina
Senior Member
That was my point - I'm pretty sure one member here got GPV ordered even though there was no bond at all.
I almost want to add to my siggy line - "Parents - move to FL or WA!".
Y'know?
I think it might have been Rushia, but I couldn't swear to it.That was my point - I'm pretty sure one member here got GPV ordered even though there was no bond at all.
I almost want to add to my siggy line - "Parents - move to FL or WA!".
Y'know?
I may be wrong about this, but I think Rushia's kids had at least spent some time with the grandcrazies. The OP says she has NEVER seen the child. Even with NY being as GP friendly as it is, wouldn't that make a difference?
But yeah, with that said, I'd love to tell mom to run!
But yeah, with that said, I'd love to tell mom to run!
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ElvinMelvin
Member
New Jersey is getting there as well. See Levine v. LevineI almost want to add to my siggy line - "Parents - move to FL or WA!".
Y'know?
"new jersey" "grandparent visitation" "levine v. levine" - Google Scholar
LdiJ
Senior Member
Neither of them have a situation like that. I honestly don't recall anyone on these forums with a situation like that from NY. I vaguely remember someone from PA fighting a grandmother in a situation where the child and grandparent had had little contact, but not one where they had never even met.
I actually haven't seen a case where a grandparent got visitation of a child that they had never met, in ANY state, since Troxel. There were quite a few however, prior to Troxel.
Grandparents’ Right of Visitation
In New York, grandparents have a right to seek assistance of the court to obtain visitation with their grandchildren. That right is included in both the Domestic Relations Law and the Family Court Act. Section 72(1) of the Domestic Relations Law states that
“[w]here either or both of the parents of a minor child, residing within this state, is, or are deceased, or where circumstances show that conditions exist which equity would see fit to intervene, a grandparent may apply to [supreme or family court] and . . . the court, by order after due notice to the parent or any other person or party having the care, custody, and control of such child, to be given in such manner as the court shall prescribe, may make such directions as the best interest of the child may require, for visitation rights for such grandparent or grandparents in respect to such child.”
Since 1976, visitation may be awarded to grandparents in matrimonial actions. The 1976 amendment added the following to DRL §240: “Such direction [of a court in a matrimonial action] may provide for reasonable visitation rights to the maternal or paternal grandparents of any child of the parties.” In New York, the statute provides that grandparents may obtain visitation rights even though their child is not deceased, and the nuclear family is intact.
Last year, the Court of Appeals in E.S. v. P.D., 8 N.Y.3d 150 (2007), unanimously rejected a constitutional challenge to New York’s grandparent visitation law. In upholding the New York Law which permits grandparents, under certain circumstances, to seek visitation with their grandchildren, the Court distinguished the New York law from the overly broad Washington law struck down by the United States Supreme Court in Troxel v Granville, 530 U.S. 57 (2000).
The statute invalidated in Troxel permitted “‘[a]ny person’ to petition for visitation rights ‘at any time,’ and authorize[d] that court to grant such visitation rights whenever ‘visitation may serve the best interest of the child’” (Troxel, 530 U.S. at 60 [quoting Wash Rev Code § 26.10.160(3) (1994)]). The Washington statute explicitly applied a presumption in favor of grandparent visitation, placing on the parent “the burden of disproving that visitation would be in the best interest” of her children.
The New York Statute, on the other hand, is based upon the presumption that the parent’s wishes represent the best interests of the children. The Court noted that:
. . . courts should not lightly intrude on the family relationship against a fit parent’s wishes. The presumption that a fit parent’s decisions are in the child’s best interests is a strong one. And while, as we made clear in Wilson, the problems created by parent-grandparent antagonism cannot be ignored, an acrimonious relationship is generally not sufficient cause to deny visitation. “It is almost too obvious to state that, in cases where grandparents must use legal procedures to obtain visitation rights, some degree of animosity exists between them and the party having custody of the child or children. Were it otherwise, visitation could be achieved by agreement” (Lo Presti v. Lo Presti, 40 N.Y.2d 522, 526 (1976)).
While this presumption creates a significant burden for the grandparent, the grandmother in this case was able to overcome it, because from the time the child was almost four until he was seven, grandmother was the primary caretaker. The court then considered all of the many circumstances bearing upon whether it was in the child’s best interest for his relationship with grandmother to continue, such as whether the father’s objections to grandmother’s access to the child were reasonable, her caregiving skills and attitude toward father, the law guardian’s assessment and the child’s desires, before granting visitation.
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milspecgirl
Senior Member
not only has she never seen the child, it sounds like the biological parents are still together and i think it makes it even harder when they are together
Good point .
Maybe the poster will come back and answer the question of what State and county the children reside in ?
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