Many grandparents in Clarksville may share the same love they feel for their children with their grandchildren. That love may prompt them to be involved heavily in their grandchildren’s lives, even to the point of performing some duties that many may perceive to be parental. It may come as little shock, then, to know that should such a relationship be interrupted by the actions of the children’s parents, the grandparent’s may in turn fight retain their own visitation rights. As is the case in most all disputes regarding visitation, the court will likely rely heavily on the opinion of whether or not allowing the grandparent’s access to the children is truly in the kids’ best interests.
A pair of grandparents in Alabama are claiming that, at least in their case, it is. The maternal grandmother and paternal grandfather (along with their spouses) have filed a lawsuit against their son (or son-in-law) after he abruptly limited their involvement in their grandchildren’s lives following the death of the kids’ mother. In their lawsuit, they claim that immediately following the mother’s death, both sets of grandparents assumed many of the parental responsibilities around the home, including cooking, cleaning and taking the kids to school and daycare. Suddenly and without warning, the father cut their visits to holidays and the occasional Sunday, and always with the paternal grandmother present. In their lawsuit, the grandparents allege that the father has anger issues and is emotionally abusive. Reports state that the judge hearing the case has issued a ruling, yet that it will not be released to the public.
Grandparents who truly believe that their lack of involvement in their grandchildren’s lives may be detrimental may wish to work with an attorney to fight to retain their visitation rights.
Source: AL.com “Alabama grandparents visitation case sealed; final decision unknown” Hrynkiw, Ivana, Dec. 06, 2016