An Alabama appeals court has struck down a law granting legal rights to grandparents who want to visit their grandchildren. Read original article here.
The Court of Civil Appeals used an Autauga County case to rule that the Grandparents Visitation Act is unconstitutional because it violates the rights of parents to decide things for their children.
The law is an amended version of a previous law that was struck down as unconstitutional on similar grounds in 2011.
The law allows grandparents to go to court to seek visitation with grandchildren even if the parents don’t approve.
In the case before the appeals court, a grandmother went to court seeking visitation with two of her grandchildren despite objections of the children’s mother.
A lower court upheld the law, but the Civil Appeals judges disagreed.
Alienated grandparents can take heart by the fact that there are organizations working night and day to help create laws that will be fair to grandparents, parents and grandkids. Following is an article that was previous published on this site.
GRANDparents Rights Organization is Spreading Like Wildfire
By Christine Crosby, Editorial Director, GRAND Magazine
I recently joined the Facebook group Grandparents Rights Association. This is an important movement in America to help grandparents have the legal rights to be in the lives of their grandchildren. I was motivated to join after reading several posts by this group and ten years of hearing heart breaking stories from grandparents who were left out in the cold when it came to having any rights to see their own grandkids.
I remember the first story I heard from the founder of the National Committee of Grandparents for Children’s Rights. Her daughter and grandson lived with her and her husband for seven years from the time the child was born. The child’s father was totally absent in the life of the child until tragically, the mother was killed in a car accident leaving a large insurance settlement to the child. Curiously, the father showed right up and demanded the child. He was literally ripped from the grandparent’s arms. Not only did these loving parents lose their only daughter, they lost their grandson all in the same week. read more here.