Grandparent visitation not foreclosed anytime a fit parent objects.

• Date: 23 January 2002
• Author: Ziemer, David

Byline: David Ziemer

The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Troxel v. Granville does not prohibit grandparent visitation whenever it is against the wishes of a fit parent, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals held on Jan. 17.

Instead, the decision only requires that the parents wishes be presumed to be in the best interests of the child.

Family History

Roger D.H. was born out of wedlock to Virginia O. in 1986. She has sole custody and the adjudicated father has no visitation rights.

In 1996, Virginia and the paternal grandmother, Patricia C., entered into a court-approved stipulation providing Patricia with visitation rights.

In 1999, however, Patricia had to move the court to compel compliance with the order, and Virginia countered with a motion to effectively vacate the order, asserting a substantial change in circumstances. A guardian ad litem (GAL) was appointed to represent Roger.

A Change in Law

While the case was pending, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57 (2000), which affirmed a decision of the Washington Supreme Court that reversed a lower courts granting visitation rights to a grandparent. Based on the decision, Virginia argued that, unless she was shown to be an unfit parent, the court could not compel visitation with a nonparent, and Wisconsins grandparent visitation statute, sec...