February 3, 2016
Most of my posts have been about Grandparents Rights for a good reason. Now and then I come across a story that is so very compelling that it deserves to be shared, My Brother and Sister-in-law have some friends that have a huge challenge in their lives right now and I wanted to let the readers of this post know about it and put it on your hearts to share this with others. The subjects of the story are Chris and Jeff Weihl. They are Grandparents to some 14 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren. Of course all 19 are really […]
June 4, 2015
I have taken great pains to explain why there will never be a sweeping single piece of legislation that covers Grandparents Rights. I wish it wasn’t so but that is the reality. I guess the question is; Now what do we do?. The answer is in the state legislatures. An example of progress is the Oregon State House Bill 3014 that has been approved by both houses and is awaiting Gov. Kate Brown’s signature. I have often stated that, especially when it comes to Grandparents Rights, that Logic and Law don’t come together. In the State of Oregon when […]
May 30, 2015
The Supreme Court of New Hampshire rules to preserve the grandparents visitation rights even if a child’s parents die and they are adopted. This is a sure sign that New Hampshire, at least, recognizes “The best interest of the child” and the need for stability and continuity in their lives. I have said before that especially during times of family unit upheaval children need more love and sense of security, not less. I take this and other baby steps as a sign that logic may prevail to the benefit of our grand children. Thank You for being a Caring […]
March 29, 2015
Grandparents Rights, while logical, are beset with many complications and unintended consequences. that is why I spelled out each of Senator East’s 6 points. The path to any semblance of fairness has to come through the states. The first 7 parts of this series outlined Senator East’s charge to the subcommittee as they took testimony regarding Senate Concurrent Resolution 40. “The purpose of this hearing is to listen to some testimony pertinent to the problems of Grandparents Visitation Rights. what the United States Senate can do, I do not know, but I certainly come to this task of the hearing […]
March 11, 2015
In his pursuit of thoroughness, Senator East added this final question to the charge for the subcommittee to consider should they move to draft a bill for Grandparents rights. “What safeguards should there be for the abuse of any right or privilege granted to grandparents?” to qualify and clarify his question he goes on to say; “Child custody and child support are, already, significant problems in the United States. There may be as many as 300,000 (1983 numbers) incidents of child-snatching or related kinds of behavior in this country per year. This behavior continues notwithstanding enormous efforts to curtail child […]
March 6, 2015
I applaud you if you have gotten this far in this series but I guarantee you this is an essential part of understanding Grandparents Rights and the path to the only thing that matters; “The best interest of the child”. Today’s post deals with the 5th of 6 questions that Senator East posed in an attempt to standardize and federalize the issue of Grandparents Visitation Rights. His question was; “5.) If grandparents are to be given access to the courts to obtain the privilege or right to visitation with grandchildren, should there be obligations assessed, as well, for the support […]
March 1, 2015
Another one of the 6 issue Senator East wanted considered was; 4) If access to courts to adjudicate Grandparents Visitation Rights is to be permitted, who shall bear the cost of that litigation? “The Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act gives the court discretion to assign one party’s cost and attorney fees to another party, based upon a consideration of the resources of both parties. This is an example of what has been done to allocate costs when they become a financial burden upon one party or another.”……….. ………..”Some states, I believe, have mandatory requirements for representation of the child. Cost […]
February 26, 2015
In part 4 of THE STATE OF GRANDPARENTS RIGHTS I want to highlight how difficult this issue is. As Grandparents we need a little perspective on this issue. It is excruciatingly hard to stand by and watch a disintegrating family unit using their children as a lever to punish their spouse. This is precisely where we as Caring Grandparents need help. We must also understand that the complexity of the need for Grandparents rights lends itself to unintended consequences as well. Let’s take a look at the third Question this subcommittee wrestled with. Senator John East raise the following question and […]
February 24, 2015
In an effort to understand what this 1983 GRANDPARENTS VISITATION RIGHTS hearing before the subcommittee had to look at to recommend legislation of a Uniform Act let’s hear again from Senator John East in his opening statement of purpose to the committee. This is a huge question; 2) “If grandparents are to be given access to courts to seek visitation rights, how shall these rights be framed?” Here we get to what I consider to be the true crux of the matter. (THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILD). In Senator Easts words; “Let us presume that the decision has been […]
February 23, 2015
The following post is the first of 6 tests that the subcommittee looked at to see if GRANDPARENTS VISITATION RIGHTS could be considered for Federal Legislation in the form of a UNIFORM ACT. As you will see there is a rigorous process that any issue has to go through before it moves from being within the States Rights and becomes the law of the land. The first question posed by Committee Chairman, then Senator John East (R) OHIO was “Should there be any legislation providing visitation rights to Grandparents at all?” Senator East’s first paragraph in his following comment sets […]