It may be surprising to some parents that that their own parents may petition a court and obtain a court order requiring them to allow grandparent visitation.  To most parents the right to make decisions and raise their children as they see fit, including the amount grandparent visitation, is a right inherent in being a parent.  However, in some instances the court may find that court ordered grandparent visitation is appropriate.  Keep in mind that this blog article only is speaking to grandparent visitation of a child, not custody of a child where a parent is unfit or absent.

One situation where we see grandparents get an order allowing visitation or “grandparent-time” is when a child has an absent parent, due to death or abandonment, and absent parent’s own parents, therefore, do not get to see their grandchild because of a deteriorated relationship with the child’s remaining parent.

Generally speaking, parents have a constitutional right to manage the care, custody and control of their child, which includes the right to make decisions regarding grandparent visitation.  However, a parent’s right to make decisions regarding his or her child’s upbringing is not absolute.  For example, while parents have the right to generally decide where to send their children to school, a state may nevertheless adopt compulsory school attendance laws requiring that you send your children to school before they reach a certain age.  A state can also exercise its “parens patriae” power and intervene on behalf of children in abusive or neglectful situations even if the parent objects.  The state must generally show that there is some important interest that trumps the parent’s constitutional right. (Continue Reading…)

Utah Courts have been offering a Divorce Education for Children class for several years now.  The class is offered to assist children impacted b y divorce.  The class helps to identify feelings common to children in divorce situations, while teaching the children how to communicate their feelings to their parents.  A mental health professional teaches the class and is assisted by a state court commissioner.  Parents and children both report good things about the class and the impact it has on the children in everyday behavior.  The class is open to children ages 9 to 12 (3rd through 6th grades) whose parents are divorced already or are currently divorcing.  The class is free of charge and is he,d at the Scott M. Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City.  The class is from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on select Saturdays, and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on select Mondays.  Pre-registration for the class is required.  The upcoming schedule is as follows:

• Monday, October 4
• Saturday, October 23
• Saturday, November 13
• Monday, November 22
• Saturday, December 4
• Monday, December 13

Please contact Michelle Glaittli at 801-578-3897 or go to the courts website.

In 2010, both the Fourth of July holiday and the Utah Pioneer Day holiday, on July 24th, fall on the weekend but courts and some places of business are closed on July 5th and July 23rd because of these holidays.  This is enough to cause parents to argue about what the holiday actually means when they look at their parent-time.

All we can do is direct parents to Utah Code Annotated Section 30-3-35 (2)(e), which reads as follows: (Continue Reading…)