Worried Grammy needs help

[AnneBarryBarry]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Georgia
GA Residency.. I have a 4 yr old granddaughter by my youngest child who is grown, 24, and unmarried at the time and never been married. They lived with us since her birth. I cut the umbilical cord. We are very close. Mom has moved out 2 times with baby with 2 different men she met online. This last man was accused by the 4 yearold of child abuse. She had a head full of bruises. She screams and fights not to go home with her mother and stands firm that she is scared. DFACS is working on this case at the present time. The father has never been in her life and has family violence issues himself. The baby has always lived with her mom at our home since birth. We pay for everything to help out our child. She now says we will never see her again. This baby will be devestated. Police were called this past weekend and witnessed the stress of this child. They could do nothing because dfacs said she had to go home with mom. This man is military and a corrections officer. HELP

[Proserpina]

What exactly do you want to happen?

Unless and until DFACS makes a decision regarding the child's wellbeing there isn't much you can do; at the moment you have very little (if any) standing to see your granddaughter without permission from her parent/s.

What is it you're hoping to attain?

[AnneBarryBarry]

We 90% raised this child. She is in our home 2-3 weeks at a time in a month span since her mom moved out. We are very large part of her life. The only grandparents that she has. Her mom "cant handle" her. She is very high strung and her mom has to take xanax to be able not to have panic attacks because of the baby. She told us that "no name" hurt her. She is scared. And her mom told us today we will never see her again. The only stability has been here. I do not want to raise another family but I know she is being abused by this man. She even told police details and her mom will not even ponder the notion that he may have hurt her in anger. I just want to know if we have any legal visitation rights. I cannot imagine that child not being with us ever. It will devistate her as well as us. Because to her this is home. You just cant get rid of a good life with family because mommy is pissed. I dont get it. Before all of this we noticed a severe change in the baby and I begged her mom to look and watch and to find out what is going on that something was wrong with her. 2 months later she is all bruised on her face, head temples and scalp. I just want to love her and her mom.

[Ohiogal]

No you do not have legal visitation rights. You have nothing unless a court sees fit to order them.

[Proserpina]

Originally Posted by AnneBarryBarry

We 90% raised this child. She is in our home 2-3 weeks at a time in a month span since her mom moved out. We are very large part of her life. The only grandparents that she has. Her mom "cant handle" her. She is very high strung and her mom has to take xanax to be able not to have panic attacks because of the baby. She told us that "no name" hurt her. She is scared. And her mom told us today we will never see her again. The only stability has been here. I do not want to raise another family but I know she is being abused by this man. She even told police details and her mom will not even ponder the notion that he may have hurt her in anger. I just want to know if we have any legal visitation rights. I cannot imagine that child not being with us ever. It will devistate her as well as us. Because to her this is home. You just cant get rid of a good life with family because mommy is pissed. I dont get it. Before all of this we noticed a severe change in the baby and I begged her mom to look and watch and to find out what is going on that something was wrong with her. 2 months later she is all bruised on her face, head temples and scalp. I just want to love her and her mom.

That's the thing though. Mom can absolutely decide that you're not good for her child and you'd have a very tough battle on your hands trying to overrule her decision until and unless a court order says otherwise.

As OG said you currently have no legal rights to see the child at all. You do, however, have standing (in Georgia) to sue for visitation rights.

I did find this:

Do grandparents have any rights of custody or visitation with their grandchildren in Georgia?
Yes, grandparents and third parties (aunts, uncles, other relatives and sometimes even non-relatives) do have rights in Georgia to seek custody or visitation with their grand children (or with the children of others for a "third party"), but there is a very strong preference for natural parents to have custody of their own children.

My grandson has lived with me for the past three years. His parents (my son and his wife) have had little or no contact with him during that time, but now, they want my grandson to live with them. Is there anything that I can do to ensure that my grandson will continue to live with me?
In a custody proceeding between the parents and a grandparent, the court will determine custody based on the best interest of the child standard. This standard requires the grandparent to show that (1) parental custody would harm the child; and (2) granting custody to the grandparent will promote the child's health, welfare and happiness. A grandparent has a more difficult legal standard to meet than does a parent when seeking custody of a child.

My grandchildren have lived with me for the past three years. Their parents (my son and his wife) have had little or no contact with the children during that time, and now, they want the children to live with them. What can I do to ensure that I will be able to spend time with my grandchildren once they are living with their parents?
Georgia law allows grandparents to seek visitation rights with their grandchildren in any case involving custody of the grandchildren, including a divorce between a child's parents. In such cases, the court may grant visitation rights to the grandparent if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that (1) the health and/or welfare of the children would be harmed unless the visitation was granted and (2) granting the visitation would be in the best interest of the children.

(this was updated in 2005 - if it has since been overturned or changed I'll edit my response)

Please think very, very carefully about this. If you did file suit and lost there's a strong chance that your daughter would ensure you never saw your grandchild again.

I do think it would be prudent to see the DFACS matter come to a conclusion before you do file (if that's what you decide to do). And if you file and are successful you need to be prepared for a very angry and resentful child who feels that her parents have usurped her role as a parent.

On a more personal note, a four year old is actually pretty resilient. They tend to adapt more successfully than adults to a new situation; so even if your worst case scenario happens there's quite a good chance that kiddo will eventually adapt well to the new way of life, even though that might be without her grandparents.

[AnneBarryBarry]

TY so much for responding so quickly. I do plan on trying to work these probs out. It is hard when one's child dumps children on you to support and take care of then decides " i am mad and you cant see the child". It does hurt the child. I believe noone should ever take good love from children. There isn't enough love in the world. And grandparents dont matter. Warning to every grandparent out there... Dont get attached, your child will spit in your face.
This is the worse pain of the heart to lose someone you see from afar but not hug. TY again