Should grandparents have legal visitation rights against the parents wishes?

by My Queen Posted 2012/12/13 20:21:36

Related Topics: Rights, Legal, Parent, Grandparent, Grandparents, parents

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80 votes
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	Yes	34 votes	43%
	No	46 votes	57%

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susan BN-0 2012/12/13 20:40:18

No

+4
If the parents don't want the grandparents to see their children,they probably have a good reason why,like maybe the grandparents are bad people.
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charles nelson 2012/12/15 18:34:09

Yes

Yes and no, its a damn sad situation that it might get that way.

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**StarzAbove** 2012/12/15 00:47:55

No

If the grandparents are good people who love and take care of their grandkids then they should have the right to visit, but if they are a bunch of bums, trash, drunks or perverts then they should NOT have the right to visit.

But for parents to deliberately withhold visitation just to be mean, then the grandparents should have the right for a hearing from the courts.

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JGF 2012/12/14 18:17:23

No

Parents have the final word. Even though I'm a grandfather I don't believe in "grandparents' rights".

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gizzibag 2012/12/14 15:52:14

Yes

unless the grand parents are a very bad influence

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TXGirl 2012/12/14 15:23:45

Yes

+1
This is not really a yes or no question. All depends on the circumstances. There could be domestic abuse in the parents household, drug use. Not all grandparents are good people either but there should be options that are in the best interest of the child(ren).

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KLTLUVRLT1 2012/12/14 07:28:15

No

"Against the parents wishes." No. The parents may have legitimate concerns for the safety of their child or some other rational reason. Besides, if there is friction between the parents and grandparents, it's best not to subject that to the children.

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Andrew Esquivel 2012/12/14 04:58:21

No

Its your kids, not theirs.

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roxie 2012/12/14 04:47:10

Yes

+3
It Depends on many factors.
But I go with what the children want, what's in their best interest.
No child can have too much love!

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Harjot 2012/12/14 02:32:33

No

+1
Not in general, but there could be exceptions.

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polkastria 2012/12/14 01:59:52

No

+1
Most parents probably have their reasons for keeping the kids away.

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sneekyfoot 2012/12/14 01:01:40

No

+2
parents have priority in these matters

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Edensasp 2012/12/14 00:31:09

Yes

+2
Only If the Courts have found that it would be in the best interests of the child(ren) and ruled in favor of the grandparents..

If no court has ruled or been petitioned, then no legal right exists.

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thevampkid 2012/12/14 00:28:13

Yes

+1
If it wasn't for my grandma going behind my dads back, I'd be living in a drug user and dealer's house as well as probably dead from all the money he owes other dealers.

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Scottish.Lassie 2012/12/14 00:27:06

Yes

+2
That's a tentative yes. Many times, especially in the case of divorce, the custodial parent is using the children as weapons and keeping them from the grandparents to be cruel. In that kind of case, yes, the grandparents should have legal rights to the children. But in cases where the parents have valid reasons to keep the children away from the grandparents, then those wishes should be followed. It pretty much needs to be decided on a case-by-case basis because no blanket answer covers this kind of question.

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realist 2012/12/13 23:45:59

No

+2
F*ck no, I love my parents but I sure as hell aren't having my time dictated by their requirements to see my kids lol.

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Denny Boy 2012/12/13 23:32:49

Yes

+1
Yes. It makes the kids happy when they are surprise visited. (believe me. We kids have our ways of knowing when they are scheduled to come)

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WATCHER to Denny Boy 2012/12/14 04:28:10 (edited)

Sorry, but it is not up to children to make decisions about their welfare or best interests. Most parents have information that is pertenant to making the decision they have. Children are not always aware of what those reasons are and are not mature enough to understand either.

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Carol 2012/12/13 23:32:21

No

+1
Never. I would have taken my children and left the country had my mother tried it while she was alive. There are often very good reasons for denying grandparents access to one's children.

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rand 2012/12/13 23:06:51

No

I can think of scenarios which work both ways, but laws too often fail their intentions and almost always just create more work for lawyers. The "least government" requires the fewest laws.

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JohnT 2012/12/13 23:04:40

Yes

+2
In California they do have visitation rights.
http://www.courts.ca.gov/1797...

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Wilde~MoonChild ™ 2012/12/13 22:54:42

No

+1
hmmm, my initial response is no...

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Matt M 2012/12/13 22:52:21

No

+3
A repeated theme in all law schools is that law is a "blunt instrument". And it is. While grandparents should be considered by the parents involved, they simply don't and should not have any standing unless they have been primary care providers for the children.

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JohnT to Matt M 2012/12/13 23:07:36

+2
Troxel vs. Granville wiped out Grandparent rights in Washington, nothing has been put in place to change that.

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Jan 2012/12/13 22:51:31

Yes

+1
We absolutely adore our grandchildren and would be devastated if any of their parents wanted to stop us seeing them. It did happen to us with one of them but the other parent overturned the decission and gave us contact details for the child. We now have a great relationship with our granddaughter again and her son. I'd never inflict the hurt we had when we weren't allowed contact on anybody.

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SA to Jan 2012/12/13 23:03:18

+2
I'm happy it turned out the way it did for you. My only son's only child was taken out of state by her mother when our granddaughter was only 18 months old. We recently have been reunited with her. She is now 10 years old. Too many years we were kept apart.

I remember crying and praying when we found out our granddaughter was gone. Although our son pays child support he had a traumatic brain injury, yet still remembers his daughter.

The pain we suffered cannot even be described.

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Jan to SA 2012/12/13 23:08:46 (edited)

+1
Thank you for sharing your story with me. Yes, I agree you and I do know exactly what it feels like. We missed out on her from age 4 to 14 . We had no address or anything until one day we heard from her. She'd found out our address and was allowed to write to us. I'll never part with that letter.

How sad that your son had the injury. I shall pray for him to get better. It must be very difficult for you.

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SA to Jan 2012/12/13 23:22:35

+1
Thank you for your prayers. I really appreciate them. My son was in a coma for about a month and we thought we had lost him, as well as his daughter.

I write poetry and wrote a poem called "We have a Missing Angel" that I read to my granddaughter last weekend. My granddaughter looked at me and said "Thank you Grandma. You didn't forget me".

I think that is the hardest part for a child. To believe her/his grandparents don't care or don't love her/him. That is what some parents don't realize when they take the grandparents out of the picture. It is truly heartbreaking for the child.

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Jan to SA 2012/12/13 23:34:15

+1
I have no doubt that she knows how much you love her. We made a point of letting our grnddaughter know that we were heartbroken when we didn't know where she was and had no way to contact her. She understands that now and has said she won't ever be estranged from us again. At least now that she is an adult she is able to choose for herself. She loves us as we do her and I'm so happy about that. I couldn't bring myself to ask her any questions about her feelings while we were estranged. She just said she wasn't allowed to write or phone and she was too young at first to do anything about it. She knows that we never stopped loving and missing her.

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WATCHER to Jan 2012/12/14 04:29:24

Sorry, but it is not up to children to make decisions about their welfare or best interests. Most parents have information that is pertenant to making the decision they have. Children are not always aware of what those reasons are and are not mature enough to understand either.

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Jan to WATCHER 2012/12/14 13:35:06

+1
The parents had split up and it was only one parent being spiteful and wanting to hurt us. The other parent had no idea of what was going on and when she did realize it she allowed our granddaughter to write to us because she knew that the child wanted contact but Daddy didn't want her to.

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kcandi 2012/12/13 22:41:31

Yes

+3
Sometimes kids use their kids against parents as a form of punishment. If the grandparents are actually and truly unsafe for grandchildren to be around, then that would be different.

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SA to kcandi 2012/12/13 22:46:57

+1

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WWZ Captain 2012/12/13 22:39:15

No

+1
Hey, grandparents are # 2, but , number 2 is NOT number # 1. ask this girl

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Scottis... to WWZ Cap... 2012/12/14 00:30:37

What are you blathering about? The queen is not her grandmother.

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WWZ Cap... to Scottis... 2012/12/14 03:09:02 (edited)

I was going to type something really mean, but this time I'm gonna try this other thing i see people do on here..explain. yes, i am well aware that the queen of England is not that girls grandmother. My initial comment stated that grandparents are secondary to parents. Second, like this girl pictured with the queen, the picture ties in with my post, if you are aware of the girl and the whole situation with her silver medal, and the smirk heard round the world. If you are not aware of these events, then my post may confuse you, but if you are aware of the situation with her, and the whole "second place" thing, then you would "get it" have a nice day.

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DANNY59 2012/12/13 22:26:21

Yes

+1
I think this is one of those questions that might some extenuating circumstances. Such as, are the Grandparents responsible, like not being drunk all the time or high from something. Do they have a past of hitting you as children, and you don't agree with this type of discipline. Or are they going to be a bad influence is some form or the other. You would really have to know all the reasons why a parent might not want their parents being around your children.

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LittleLogCabin 2012/12/13 22:18:25

No

+1
Not all grandparents are lovable.

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SA to LittleL... 2012/12/13 22:19:56

+1
Not all parents are lovable either.

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LittleL... to SA 2012/12/13 22:22:02

+1
that true..i totally agree.

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WATCHER to LittleL... 2012/12/14 04:31:05

+1
or loving. Some are manipulative and distructive as well.

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