Anyone May Need Grandparents' Rights

A bitter divorce, substance abuse, a sudden death, or any number of circumstances can put you, as a grandparent, at risk for losing touch with a grandchild. It is important to understand the complexity of the laws before you need to use them. When the unexpected occurs, you might react in the heat of the moment in ways that you will later regret. By reading this book, hopefully, you will be prepared to handle unfortunate circumstances in such a way that will not jeopardize your right to be a part of your grandchild's life.

In the previous chapters I have included stories of grandparents who fought for visitation with grandchildren in a variety of circumstances. The stories show how, through perseverance, many grandparents have prevailed.  You may recognize situations with which your own children, your grandchildren, other family members, friends or neighbors are grappling.

You may have thought that such heartaches do not affect people who own their own home, have a job, are educated, and are well thought of in their community. You may have thought that such distress is reserved for people who are somehow at fault for their misfortunes. You are wrong. Everyone is at risk.

Dr. Patricia Slorah is an early childhood educator, gerontologist and applied anthropologist. She taught young children for 12 years, and taught both undergraduate and graduate students at the University of South Florida in Tampa for five years.

Dr. Slorah has researched the issue of grandparents’ rights for fourteen years and in the capacity of both grandparent and researcher appeared on local and national television (Good Morning America). She is considered an expert on the subject and has testified both at the national and state levels of government. She has been featured in newspapers across the country including the St. Petersburg Times, the Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and the Wall Street Journal, as well as in the magazine Modern Maturity.

Dr. Slorah lives in Florida with her husband of 43 years, Jack; their granddaughter, Brittany; and great-granddaughter, Hailey. The Slorah’s daughter, Michelle, lives in a nearby town with their 12-year-old grandson, Tyler.

Grandparents’ rights are simply the right to petition the court for visitation with a grandchild; they do not automatically insure visitation. To obtain visitation, you must petition the court and request a judicial order stating when and under what circumstances, you may see your grandchild.

Some judges do not believe in grandparents’ rights and thus may turn your petition down. In this book, however, you will read stories of grandparents who obtained court-ordered visitation. These grandparents were awarded visitation because they convinced the court that their grandchild needed their continuing presence as a stabilizing influence.

Situations in which grandparents are denied visitation by the parents usually occur because of difficulties between the grandparent and the child’s custodial parent.  I have written this book to help you overcome these difficulties without spending a great deal of money on legal fees. In fact, those grandparents who spend large sums of money to obtain visitation are less likely to be successful than those who spend little or nothing.

Many grandparents wonder why they may need a court order. Often they ask, “Why do I have to go through this legal maze to acquire rights, which the law says I am entitled to?” While most state laws spell out in which situations visitation petitions are accepted, they do not explain the steps necessary to obtain visitation. After reading this book, you will have the information you need to make informed decisions about your particular situation.

Prior to 1970 those grandparents who needed legal intervention to retain ties with grandchildren were out of luck, because there were no grandparents’ rights laws. Since then, state laws have been enacted largely due to the efforts of grandparents who lobbied legislators in their behalf; we are fortunate indeed that others made this sacrifice.

There is a common misconception that grandparents who seek court-ordered visitation are trouble makers and that may be true in some instances, although that has not been my experience. The overwhelming majority of grandparents (and there have been thousands) who contact me, are worried that their grandchildren are being abused or neglected. Unfortunately, in far too many cases, they are correct.