Life Done Right™

on Nov 3rd, 2006Grandparents’ Rights (Get ‘em before the kids grow up)

Grandparents’ Rights, 4th Edition
by Traci Truly

The publisher’s pitch:

With changes in demographics, grandparents are living longer and want to spend as much time as they can with their grandchildren. There is no other book in the marketplace that so clearly addresses the rights of this growing population.

This new edition explains the ramifications for all 50 states relating to the U.S. Supreme Court case of Troxell v. Granville, plus the findings of subsequent cases. A new Frequently Asked Questions section opens the text. All forms and state laws have been reviewed and updated where needed. New chapters include information regarding mediation and the court system relating to visitation rights for grandparents, guardian ad litem, cyber-grandparenting, and handling the divorce of grandparents and the visitation of their grandchildren.

A new appendix lists agencies, organizations, and websites that can serve as a resource for the reader. Blank, easy-to-use, tear-out forms are available for immediate use by the reader.

TROXEL et vir. v. GRANVILLE
Washington Rev. Code §26.10.160(3) permits “[a]ny person” to petition for visitation rights “at any time” and authorizes state superior courts to grant such rights whenever visitation may serve a child’s best interest. Petitioners Troxel petitioned for the right to visit their deceased son’s daughters. Respondent Granville, the girls’ mother, did not oppose all visitation, but objected to the amount sought by the Troxels. The Superior Court ordered more visitation than Granville desired, and she appealed. The State Court of Appeals reversed and dismissed the Troxels’ petition. In affirming, the State Supreme Court held, inter alia, that §26.10.160(3) unconstitutionally infringes on parents’ fundamental right to rear their children. Reasoning that the Federal Constitution permits a State to interfere with this right only to prevent harm or potential harm to the child, it found that §26.10.160(3) does not require a threshold showing of harm and sweeps too broadly by permitting any person to petition at any time with the only requirement being that the visitation serve the best interest of the child.

Held: The judgment is affirmed.

High court reaffirms parents’ rights in child-rearing decisions
The court, in a 6-3 decision, struck down a “breathtakingly broad” Washington state law that allowed judges to award visitation to any interested party provided the visits were in the children’s best interest — even if the parents disagreed. The court said the law violates the 14th Amendment’s due process clause, which bars the government from interfering in the private lives of its citizens.