Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland

Re: Grandparents Rights

Maryland law contains a provison for grandparent visitation. It is for situations where the parents of the children are divorced and denying visitation.

If you are serious about asking for court intervention regarding your denial of visits, then I would strongly urge you to contact an attorney.

Re: Grandparents Rights

You have a legal right to petition the court for visitation with your grandchildren, but this does not mean you have an absolute legal right to have visitation. The right to petition the court is generally available to grandparents in situations where the parents are divorced or one parent has died and the custodial or remaining parent is not permitting visitation. Maryland courts have held that the basis for a decision about grandparents' visitation is the best interest of the child, which is always a hard thing to determine. In situations where the child and the grandparents have been very close, or where the grandparents have been regular and frequent care-givers, it is usually considered harmful to the children to abruptly cut the contact off. In cases where the grandparents make a practice of using offensive language in front of the children, telling them that their mother (or father) is a bitch or a witch or some such thing, encouraging the children to do things they shouldn't be doing, or drinking to excess in front of them, or any of the other harmful things some grandparents have been known to do, the court is likely to find that it is not in the best interest of the children to spend much time with the grandparents. The courts have also held that if the parent offers a visitation schedule, which may be much less than the grandparents think is reasonable, the presumption of the court is that the parent's proposal for visits is in the best interest of the children. This may mean visits which are brief, or rare. The Supreme Court issued a recent decision which may have some effect on the Maryland law. The decision, in a Washington State case, was that court-ordered visitation for grandparents is an infringement of parents' rights to raise their children, and it is likely to make the Maryland courts less likely to order visitation when the parents don't want it. If you can make a case that your daughter's decision is harmful to the children, and that it is strongly in their interest to see you, you might win. But your relationship with your daughter is not likely to be mended. It is a very sad thing when children are used as a weapon or a tool for getting even. I hope you can resolve the problem and make peace with your daughter without the need to go to court.