Articles

Grandparents visitation rights and custody rights are becoming a huge issue in our society. Not only are more grandparents today taking on the responsibility of their grandchildren, but more grandparents are petitioning the court for visitation rights and winning visitation rights and/or custody of their grandchildren. In my book No Greater Loss I explore the complexities of these issues in our culture today. My book has great detail about the specifics of the law and what it means to grandparents. Here is a general overview: Although it is unknown exactly how many court-ordered visitation cases exist in our country today, […]

Many states today claim that when it comes to grandparents custody rights the grandparents have no rights to visit, see or speak with their grandchildren unless the child’s parents permit such. Only if a grandparent believes that their grandchild’s welfare is in serious danger can they notify the authorities and potentially petition the court for custody of the child. This is not true, however, in all states. Some states have permissive grandparents rights laws. Such individual states generally use one of two standards for determining custody. The courts in many states currently begin any proceedings by looking for the parental […]

In a sad blow to grandparents rights the Alabama Supreme Court last week struck down a state law that guarantees visitation rights for grandparents, ruling that it unconstitutionally violated the rights of fit parents who might not want their kids to be around their grandparents. The SC justices overturned Alabama’s recently passed Grandparent Visitation Act in a 7-2 decision. To read more about this controversial issue check out my post on Grandparents Visitation Rights. Here is some of what the Associated Press said about the ruling: The opinion, written by Associate Justice Tom Parker, was 34 pages long, and Parker […]

Many different reasons or circumstances can compel a grandparent to look into grandparents rights issues with their grandchildren. Considering today’s high divorce rates, teen pregnancy issues, drug problems, abandonment, abuse and sometimes the death of a parent or parents, many grandparents feel the need to step up and help out. Grandparents rights is a difficult legal matter, though, and often it’s hard to know where to start or get help. I discuss all of these issues in detail in my book No Greater Loss. Sometimes the parent or parents of the child are in agreement and believe that the child […]

The Alabama Senate passed a bill this week that would give grandparents visitation rights to their grandchildren. The bill has previously passed the Alabama House of Representatives in April and it now heads to the Governor for his signature. The grandparents rights bill (HB 348) was sponsored by Representative Harry Shiver of Bay Minette. It is nicknamed the “Grandparent’s Bill.” The bill was pushed by supporter Richard Deblase of Mobile who lost his grandchildren when they were killed by their father and stepmother in 2010. Deblase attempted to get visitation with his grandchildren before they were killed but the parents […]

For a lot of reasons, grandparents custody is on the rise these days. Much of this is due to the percentages of marriage that end in divorce, but there are also often factors such as the premature death of a parent, parental problems with drugs or incarceration, or financial problems tied to these tough times. Any of these things can cause grandparents to have to take responsibility for their grandkids. For grandparents, it is important to understand what custody means and what grandparents rights are. There is a lot of happiness that comes along with raising grandchildren, but there are also […]

With changing familial structures that involve divorce and remarriage, some family relationships and roles fall to the wayside. Grandparents are often victims of these changes, with their grandparents visitation rights commonly terminated upon a relationship’s demise. Because of the bond between grandparent and grandchild, it’s important to understand just what constitutes grandparents visitation rights. Grandparents’ rights are actually governed by state statutes, which are given effect in other jurisdictions via federal law. Generally speaking, grandparents’ rights to visitation fall into one of two categories: restrictive and permissive. Restrictive statutes only permit grandparents visitation if parents have divorced or if one […]

Grandparents can be awarded visitation rights to their grandchildren, but it is often a difficult process and the difficulty varies from state to state and even court to court. In my book No Greater Loss I cover all of the issues surrounding grandparents visitation, and I’ll try to give you some idea of the general situation here. The visitation rights of grandparents after divorce have been addressed many times by individual states for a variety of reasons. For one thing, advocates argue that grandparents provide a constant supply of support for children whose lives are otherwise disrupted by divorce. Advocates […]

More and more the subject of grandparents rights is coming up in our society. In my recent book No Greater Loss I took a detailed look at the current status of grandparents rights as well as giving some resources and advice to those in need. Here is some of what I found out in researching that book. Children are the best companions to the aging grandparents. In the past they were under grandparent’s custody irrespective of their parents alive or not. Later the society has undergone changes and now separation, divorce, premature deaths to parents are most common among the […]