Legal Question in Family Law in California
Great-grandmother's visitation rights
I am an unwed mother of a 3 year old son. My son's father is in jail. My mother filed for visitation rights and unbeknownst to me my grandmother put her name on the paper. My mother dropped her suit so I did not show up to the hearing. My grandmother continued the suit and showed up at the hearing. Since I did not appear she was given visitation rights. I under no circumstances want her in my son's life. I am now living in California and she is fighting me for more visitation rights. If I do not show up for the hearing, which is in Indiana, do I still have the right to say no to her if she were to come to California to see him? And does she have the right to take him back to Indiana without my permission?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Great-grandmother's visitation rights
Before the question can be answered I would need more information on how long the child has lived in California. If the child has been in California for over six months then California has jurisdiction, not Indiana. The safest route is to hire an attorney in Indiana to set aside the order for visitation. Pat McCrary
Re: Great-grandmother's visitation rights
Depending upon where you were residing at the time the ligitation was commenced, Indiana may not have jurisdiction over you. If you moved after the litigation was commenced it does have jurisdiction and you need to appear before the Indiana Court to challenge its orders. I would suggest you contact Legal Services Organization to see if it would intervene for you. I do not recall that the grandparent visitation statute in Indiana includes great-grandparents in the category of persons entitled to seek visitation with a child. The statute speaks of maternal and paternal grandparents, not great-grandparents. However, by failing to appear at a hearing you were not able to raise the issue of the great-grandparent's standing. You could also consider writing a letter to the judge.
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