- 10
- November
2011
I recently came across some articles from around the country touching on the issue of grandparent rights and it got me thinking, how does Colorado handle grandparent rights? Under § 19-1-117, C.R.S., a grandparent can seek a court order granting him or her reasonable grandchild visitation rights under the following,
- If the parents' marriage is no longer valid or the parents have been granted legal separation.
- If there has been a child custody determination or allocation of parental responsibilities.
- If one of the parents of the child has died.
Further, once the court has received all required documents along with the grandparent's motion the court may grant visitation based on the best interest of the child. It is imperative that the grandparent produce all relevant materials and facts to the court. Under Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57 (2000), the court is the final arbiter in determining the best interest of the child based on the evidence and materials presented.
If there is an issue regarding the non-compliance of a court order allowing grandparent visitation rights, § 19-1-117.5, C.R.S., provides grandparents the right to bring a motion before the court to enforce the court order. If the court finds non-compliance by the offending party, the court has a wide variety of orders it can issue such as mediation, posting bond, imposing a fine or jail sentence.
Lastly, a grandparent may seek legal custody of their grandchild under § 19-1-117.7, C.R.S. Upon consideration to the grandparent(s), a court will consider the grandparent's past conduct of child abuse or neglect including, medical records, school records, police reports, information contained in records and reports of child abuse or neglect, and court records.
If you or someone you know is seeking to enforce their grandparent rights to see their grandchild please contact us at Stowell P.C.
2 Comments
Karen A. Wyle
November 15, 2011 at 8:34 AM
What Troxel v. Granville established is that trial courts must start by presuming (a rebuttable presumption) that a fit custodial parent's decision to limit or deny grandparent visitation is in the child's best interests. While a statute may make the trial court the final arbiter, the scales do not start out equal.
In 2006, in In re Adoption of C.A., the Colorado Supreme Court held that for the court to override the parent's decision, the presumption favoring that decision must be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence, and the grandparent's proposed schedule must be shown by clear and convincing evidence to be in the child's best interests. The court must make findings of fact identifying the special factors on which it relies in overriding the parent's decision. I am not a Colorado attorney and cannot say for certain whether anything has happened since 2006 to change these rules, but if so, I am not aware of it. I do know that the C.A. case was cited in a Colorado appellate opinion in 2010.
Chris Bui
November 21, 2011 at 1:39 PM
Thank you for your attention and response, Karen. A copy of the Colorado Supreme Court ruling for the In re the Adoption of C.A. can be found here on their website: http://www.courts.state.co.us/Courts/Supreme_Court/opinions/2005/05SC526.pdf.
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