Legal Question in Family Law in Pennsylvania

Re: medical rights

You asked about "medical" rights.

Your question is very ambiguous. If you are asking whether grandparents can be granted rights to a grandchild in opposition to the wishes of the parent then the answer is yes. If you are asking if the grandparent can be appointed as the medical guardian the answer is, it depends.

In Pennsylvania grandparents do have rights to visitation with (and sometimes custody of) a grandchild. This would need to be obtained through the courts if the parents refused to grant any visitation.

As to the right to determine medical care: the courts would be more cautious in granting rights. At all times the court will consider the best interest of the child. But the court will not simply disregard the wishes of the parents.

The scenario that best demonstrates the medical situation would be where the child was ill. Take the situation where the child's parent's held the belief that medical science was wrong to intervene in healing (e.g. Christian Science). If the child had a minor illness then a court would not intervene to demand that the child get immediate medical care. But as the severity of an illness increases then a court would be more and more likely to either order care be administered or grant temporary custody to a guardian ad litem.

Hope that answered your question.

Regards,

Roger