AnonUserName
Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NC
I am the mom of an 8 year old boy and my husband adopted him when he was 3. My husband and I just came out of a grandparent custody/visitation suit.
I first have to say thanks to all here on FA, I've learned so much just sitting back and reading. I discovered this site a couple years ago when our issues started. I wanted to learn everything I can and while this is my first post, I feel like I already know everyone. I hope my story will help others that may be facing similar situations. I'm going to try to keep this as short as possible but it's been a long 2 years!
To get to the nitty gritty, my parents filed a grandparent custody/visitation suit against us.
We were served with the custody/visitation suit in Feb of last year. Thanks to the advice here, we retained an attorney. No way we were fighting this alone. We had a temp hearing where we asked for a dismissal based on lack of standing. Unfortunately, we lost our motion to dismiss based on a poorly written statute that allows grandparents to seek visitation when a step parent adoption has occurred. Now keep in mind, this is my parents using this statute, not my sons biological grandparents which would have at least made some sense to us. We asked the courts to consider us an intact family which has protection in NC since the adoption was 3 years prior but all motions to dismiss were denied.
Our attorney filed an interlocutory appeal and we hoped that our parental right would have been a strong enough reason to request an interlocutory appeal. While pending the appeal, we were ordered to mediation, which again thanks to you all here, we stood our ground and refused to come to an agreement. We also requested a stay until the appellate court could hear our case. We won the stay but the appellate court declined to hear our appeal and were back to trial.
During our trial, one of the questions the judge had a hard time with is where does my parental rights stand based on the NC statute allowing grandparent visitation suits when a step parent adoption had occurred, Troxel and a pre Troxel case in NC (Peterson). The judge ultimately determined that I as a parent have to be found unfit before the court could intervene in my ability to override my rights as a parent to determine whom my child associates with.
Our trial ended this week with the finding that our parental rights were paramount, we were fit parents, and even if my parental rights weren't paramount, grandparent visitation would not be in his best interest. No grandparent visitation was awarded. I'm sure they will appeal but for now, it's over.
Anyone who is facing a grandparent suit my advice is to buckle up, it's a long hard road ahead. It's stressful, its draining financially and emotionally but stand your ground and educate yourself.
I am the mom of an 8 year old boy and my husband adopted him when he was 3. My husband and I just came out of a grandparent custody/visitation suit.
I first have to say thanks to all here on FA, I've learned so much just sitting back and reading. I discovered this site a couple years ago when our issues started. I wanted to learn everything I can and while this is my first post, I feel like I already know everyone. I hope my story will help others that may be facing similar situations. I'm going to try to keep this as short as possible but it's been a long 2 years!
To get to the nitty gritty, my parents filed a grandparent custody/visitation suit against us.
We were served with the custody/visitation suit in Feb of last year. Thanks to the advice here, we retained an attorney. No way we were fighting this alone. We had a temp hearing where we asked for a dismissal based on lack of standing. Unfortunately, we lost our motion to dismiss based on a poorly written statute that allows grandparents to seek visitation when a step parent adoption has occurred. Now keep in mind, this is my parents using this statute, not my sons biological grandparents which would have at least made some sense to us. We asked the courts to consider us an intact family which has protection in NC since the adoption was 3 years prior but all motions to dismiss were denied.
Our attorney filed an interlocutory appeal and we hoped that our parental right would have been a strong enough reason to request an interlocutory appeal. While pending the appeal, we were ordered to mediation, which again thanks to you all here, we stood our ground and refused to come to an agreement. We also requested a stay until the appellate court could hear our case. We won the stay but the appellate court declined to hear our appeal and were back to trial.
During our trial, one of the questions the judge had a hard time with is where does my parental rights stand based on the NC statute allowing grandparent visitation suits when a step parent adoption had occurred, Troxel and a pre Troxel case in NC (Peterson). The judge ultimately determined that I as a parent have to be found unfit before the court could intervene in my ability to override my rights as a parent to determine whom my child associates with.
Our trial ended this week with the finding that our parental rights were paramount, we were fit parents, and even if my parental rights weren't paramount, grandparent visitation would not be in his best interest. No grandparent visitation was awarded. I'm sure they will appeal but for now, it's over.
Anyone who is facing a grandparent suit my advice is to buckle up, it's a long hard road ahead. It's stressful, its draining financially and emotionally but stand your ground and educate yourself.
