Several years ago, a business dispute led an Alabama mother and father to stop allowing their children’s grandparents to visit. The grandparents sued for access to the children under Alabama’s Grandparent Visitation Act. The judge ruled for the grandparents and granted them unsupervised visitation rights for a few hours one day a week and allowed them to have daily telephone communication.
However, the parents appealed the judge’s decision and the ruling was reversed.
The case ultimately made its way to the Alabama Supreme Court, which not only sided with the parents, it also struck down Grandparent Visitation Act altogether, calling it a violation of the parents’ due process rights.
The grandparents continued fighting and petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their appeal. But the nation’s highest court declined to hear the case in early 2012, leaving the Alabama Supreme Court decision as the final word.
Today, Sen. Gerald Allen, R-Tuscaloosa, brought the issue back up by introducing a new Grandparents Visitation Act (Senate Bill 190) in the Alabama Senate.
The bill would allow a grandparent to petition the court for visitation rights if the marital relationship between the parents of the grandchild has been severed by divorce, death or separation.
“Most families in circumstances of divorce or separation can work out favorable circumstances and visits for grandparents to continue to enjoy the company of their grandchildren,” Sen. Allen said. “This legislation addresses grandparents rights in those unusual circumstances where a grandchild is denied a visit to their grandparents. Our bill does not take anything away from parents and provides stability and emotional well-being for children.”
To obtain visitation rights over the objection of a parent, the grandparent would have to prove that the lack of visitation has caused harm to the grandchild, and that it would be in the best interest of the child for them to resume contact.
All 50 states have some form of “grandparent visitation” laws granting a judge the authority to require regular access to grandchildren.
The question is, does a parent’s right to decide how to best raise her child include the authority to not allow grandparents to visit?
“I am very committed to ensuring that every grandparent is allowed to visit their grandchild and should not be denied because of an unforeseen circumstance like a divorce,” Allen said. “The safety of the child is of the utmost importance and is emphasized throughout our bill.”
Senate Bill 190 is pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
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