Troxel v. Granville
The most important case concerning grandparents’ rights was decided by the United States Supreme Court in the year 2000. The name of this case is Troxel v. Granville. This case was not specifically involved with grandparents’ rights. The case dealt with third parties having custody of children. The United States Supreme Court made it clear that states needed to be careful in passing laws concerning who should receive custody of children. As a result of this case, state legislatures have been careful with regard to drafting laws concerning issues involving grandparents’ rights to custody and visitation. Case law, not Statutory law, is generally looked into by the courts to determine whether grandparents should be given visitation or custody of their grandchildren.
Visitation Arguments For Grandparents
There are a number of significant arguments grandparents can make in bringing a visitation proceeding in the Family Courts in the State of New York. The first argument involves grandparents who have had an active role in their grandchildren’s lives. In this situation, it can be argued, it is not in the grandchildren’s best interest to suddenly lose access to beloved grandparents. Even in situations where the parents do not get along, were not married, one parent dies, there was a divorce or there is a parent who is incarcerated, the custodial parents of the children should not be allowed to eliminate the relationship between the grandchildren and the grandparents.
Non-Legal Measures
Before grandparents decide to utilize the legal system to protect their rights, they should communicate with the parent who are interfering with their visitation and calmly discuss the issue. Grandparents should not make negative statements to their grandchildren concerning their parents. This can create stress between the children and their parents and will certainly not endear the parents to the grandparents.
Sometimes the issues between the parents and the grandparents have to do with the way parents are raising their grandchildren. Parents have rights to make customary day to day decisions concerning their children’s lives. However, in cases where the children are abused or neglected, the grandparents should contact Child Protective Services.
Grandparents’ Rights And Litigation
In the State of New York, proceedings to enforce grandparents’ rights are brought in the Family Court. The proceeding is initiated by preparation of a Notice of Petition, filing it with the court and having the Petition served on the parents. Thereafter, the courts will try to mediate the dispute and if that doesn’t work there will be a hearing to determine whether the grandparents should be given visitation.
Grandparents’ Rights Lawyers
Bringing a grandparents’ rights proceeding is not a simple matter. Before you hire an attorney to represent you in a grandparents rights proceeding, you should look into his or her level of experience in dealing with these types of matters. The grandparents’ rights lawyers at the Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo have been litigating grandparents’ rights cases for more than 45 years.
About Elliot S. Schlissel
