Legal Question in Family Law in Kentucky

Re: Grandparents rights

A Kentucky statute (KRS 405.021) grants grandparents visitation rights. Nevertheless, some Kentucky courts have used the "best interests of the child" standard to limit or even deny such visitation. These rights extend even to children in foster care, unless and until the parental rights of the children's parents have been terminated. When that happens, the parents' rights are extinguished, along with the rights of the grandparents. If the child or children are then put up for adoption, then the grandparents may even be denied knowledge of the children's whereabouts.

You would be well advised to obtain the services of a Kentucky lawyer with some Family Law experience immediately. If the termination of parental rights hearing has not yet taken place, you can intervene and ask for full custody.

But you need to act quickly, because the Kentucky Cabinet for Families & Children, once they place a child in foster care, usually proceeds right away to terminate parental rights and place the child for adoption. Foster care costs the state a lot of money, and once the child is adopted the expense to the taxpayers ceases. And, don't forget, there is a long waiting list of prospective adoptive parents.

You can get a referral to a Kentucky Family Law attorney by reaching the Kentucky Bar Association by telephone or on the internet. Good Luck!

Re: Grandparents rights

Yes, you can file a motion to intervene in the court case where your grandchildren were removed. You can also contact the Cabinet directly and ask for a home evaluation to be conducted. As for visitation rights, there is a statute that seems to grant visitation rights to grandparents. However, a US Supreme Court case has severely limited the enforceability of such statutes. What is clear, is that if you can get visitation rights established now, then even if termination of parental rights occurs, your visitation rights may remain intact.

The Cabinet typically begins the process of terminating parental rights when a child has been in foster care about one year. This is based on a federal law known as ASFA where a grounds for termination is if a child has been in foster care 15 out of the last 22 months. Sometimes they proceed more quickly if there are particular circumstances involved.

If you Cabinet will consider you as a placement, then you probably do not need a lawyer. If, however, they seem to be dragging things out or deny your home as a placement, then you should seek counsel.