Grandparents vsitation

[hagatha]

Guys,

Need some info about a court ruling on grandparent visitation. Here is the situation;

My 23 yr old foster daughter has 2 children ages b-3, & g-1. Her husband was killed in a freak accident 1 month after she found out she was pregnant with g-1. While he was alive they had very limited contact with his family. It should be noted his family has a long history of mental illness and drug abuse. All the main players in the fathers family have been in and out of rehab several times in the last year.

My foster daughter has been verbally and emotionally abused by her husbands family since his death. FD had asked them on several occasions to babysit while she is working and after agreeing will bail, leaving her stuck for a sitter at the last minute. Now she doesn't bother asking.

These people have done nothing with or for these babies. No acknowlegement for christmas or their birthdays. No calls, cards, gifts etc. They expect FD who is working 2 jobs to support her children, to make all the arrangements and do all the driving for them to see these kids. And when she does have the time, they will be unavailable.

Why these people are petitioning the court for visitation is a mystery, but  they are. FD is not in a financial position to get an attorney. I will help as much as I can, but we have no money either.

She has been documenting everything since before her husband died including conversations and voice mail messages. (his mother likes to call while trashed and leave messages about how hard her life is now that her son is dead, and his only legacy is being kept from her)

So I need any info on grandparents rights.

Thanks,

The Witch





Remember . . . KARMA is a Wonderful Thing!!!!!

This is a game of cat and mouse.. to win, you must become the DOG!

[Sherry1]

My first suggestion is to contact a lawyer in the county/city where your daughter lives.  Most attornies will do a free telephone consult.  Find out what your daughter's rights are.  Keep calling attornies until you find one that might help her based upon her low income, might set up a monthly payment plan.

If it were me, I would beg, borrow, steal, take out a loan, etc., whatever needs to be done to hire a good attorney.

If the grandparents are successful, and if they have an attorney and you don't they have a leg up.

[iceclimber]

jurisdiction PA?  if so, not good...

i'm afraid they may have a chance with the bf deceased.

i agree with sherry.... beg, borrow, steal.

do background checks on all family members. maybe something will turn up.
she should try to do everything in her power to document the drug and alcohol issues with the grandparents to show that it would not be in the children's best interest to grant visitation.... at least non-supervised visitation.

Generally, grandparents can seek partial custody or visitation of their minor grandchildren in one of three circumstances: (1) if either of the child's or children's parents are deceased; (2) if the parents have never married, are married but separated for more than six months, or are divorced; or (3) the grandchildren have resided with the grandparents for more than 12 months and then were removed from the home.

Hiller v. Fausey - PA Supreme Court held that the PA Grandparent Visitation Statutes which allow grandparents to seek partial custody or visitation with their minor grandchildren are constitutional and rejected the argument that the PA Grandparent Visitation Statute violates the custodial parent's Due Process rights under the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution. The PA Supreme Court held the PA Grandparent Visitation statute constitutional even after consideration of a fit parent's rights regarding the care, custody, and control of their minor children. PA Supreme Court refuses to find the statute violates the US Constitution as in the Troxel v. Grandville case from Washington state.

[janM]

I have heard that about PA.

On the GP side is the fact their son is dead. On mom's side is their lack of involvement in the kids' lives. Normally a GPV suit will hinge on them having a close bond that, if severed, will not be in the child's interest. Item 3 would have a bearing in such a case because of the closeness.

I think she'd need an attorney for this. She'll need evidence of unfitness.

[iceclimber]

Grandparent Rights to Visitation: Visitation may be granted when at least one of the parents of the child is deceased, when the parents' marriage is dissolved or the parents have been separated for six months or more, or when the child has resided with the grandparents for twelve months or more and is subsequently removed from the home by his parents. The court must find that the visitation is in the best interest of the child and will not interfere with the parent-child relationship and must consider the amount of personal contact between the child and the grandparent prior to the application. Title 23, Section 5311 (23 Pa.C.S.A. § 5311 et seq.).

[hagatha]

 The court
>must find that the visitation is in the best interest of the
>child and will not interfere with the parent-child
>relationship and must consider the amount of personal contact
>between the child and the grandparent prior to the
>application. Title 23, Section 5311 (23 Pa.C.S.A. § 5311 et
>seq.).


So if I understand this right, the fact that the fathers family has seen the 3yr old maybe a dozen times since his birth and the 1 yr old maybe 3-4 times will be a big factor. That and the ongoing drug use (documented) might be enough for the court to deny the petition.

I know she will need an attorney as soon as the papers are filed, but I would like to be able to get all the legwork done so we can keep the costs down.

Thanks for the help.

The Witch

Remember . . . KARMA is a Wonderful Thing!!!!!

This is a game of cat and mouse.. to win, you must become the DOG!

[iceclimber]

be sure the documentation/journals include contact with the children... attempted contact, bail out on visits, etc... dates, times, very factual.

it is very difficult for the other party refute this info in court when she can site dates, times, quotes, etc...

i will do more digging...

[Davy]

Hag

It seems to me that your objectives seriously contradicts the purpose and intent of this board.

I think you should know that GPV was initialize by fathers in hopes of gaining access/relationship with their child/ren mostly due to the courts not enforcing compliance to fathers custody/visitation court orders.

Please try to find a way to encourage a relationship for the children with the paternal gp's and hope the relationship will have a positive impact on the children lives.

It might be best not to put more pressure on the mother.  The kids might in up strapped to their car seats in the bottom of a lake (PA and IL) or cloroformed in a plastic bag in the trunk of the mother's car (FL) ..... etc etc