When grandparents rights changed

In June of 2000 the Supreme Court issued a 6-3 decision on grandparents visitation rights in the Troxel vs Granville case. This ruling canceled out a Washington State law that permitted judges to grant visitation to any interested party so long as the visits were in the best interest of the child — even if the parents objected.

The Troxel vs Granville decision was confusing because while the majority of the justices agreed that Troxel should be decided a certain way, each had a different reason for doing so which resulted in six different written opinions.

The Troxel case makes it hard for state courts to interpret the decision. Despite this and the narrow set of facts in which the case dealt, Troxel vs Granville has become the basis for all subsequent discussion of grandparents rights.

To understand how Troxel and the various legislative laws have been applied in your state visit The Custody Center and use their resources to understand the situation you may be in.

NEIL