Many people believe that a child should have contact with their grandparents in order to learn the family history and to grow into a good person. They believe that a child receives a ton of value from this attention and love. Others say a child can be raised with or without the input of grandparents and no harm is done.
Unfortunately, the constitution of the United States does not grant any grandparents rights over grandchildren whatsoever. The constitution states that the natural parents of a child have the right to raise their child in any way they see fit, and that as long as they are a functioning family unit this is the way it should be.
Many will argue that alienation of grandkids from their grandparents does a world of harm to a child. You can even find people that will call grandparent alienation child abuse.
The rights that grandparents do have vary from state to state. Another thing that the courts have to consider are the circumstances behind the alienation. For instance, if the child is living with both parents and the child is doing well then the grandparents will lose the case. If one or both of the parents have died this will change the situation.
Circumstances like these are detail in the literature of The Custody Center. I have found no other way to go in and really figure out what grandparents rights mean in these cases.
NEIL
