Ex parte E.R.G.: After the failure of a business, shared by father and grandfather, parents terminated the grandparents’ contact with the children.
By Laura Morgan, Family Law Consultant
Grandparent visitation statute violated fundamental due process rights of parents, and therefore was unenforceable, by not including a presumption in favor of parents when deciding questions of visitation, by looking only to the best interests of the child, and by substituting the judge for the parents in applying the best‑interests standard, and also by not requiring a showing of compelling state interest in awarding visitation to grandparents or a showing that application of the statute was the least restrictive means of achieving any state interest.
Laura Morgan is a Family Law Consultant. Laura is available for consultation, brief writing and research on family law issues throughout the country. She can be reached through her Web site.
Reprint with permission.
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