Grandparents Rights Ohio

INFORMATION AND FORMS REGARDING GRANDPARENT RIGHTS, GRANDPARENT VISITATION AND GRANDPARENT CUSTODY IN OHIO
In Ohio, Grandparents have the right to petition a court for visitation in a few different circumstances.  They do not have an automatic right to have visitation.  That is a decision made by the court on a case by case basis, using the best interest of the child standard.  Generally, Ohio courts have been generous in awarding grandparent visitation.

When grandparent visitation is awarded by a court, it is generally a visitation schedule that is less than what would be awarded to a parent.  There is a reason for this - a grandparent’s rights are not the same as a parent’s rights.  Ohio courts want to be very clear about this, and do NOT want to send a signal to grandparents that the courts are the place to win a power struggle between and parent and a grandparent.  In addition, if the court finds, (after being presented with evidence that is admissible in court under the Ohio Rules of Evidence and is NOT hearsay) that the grandparent is making statements or taking actions to alienate the parent from the child, the court may decline to grant visitation or severely limit visitation.

Most parents who oppose court ordered grandparent visitation state one or more of the following reasons for denying or severely limiting grandparent visitation:

• The child is not comfortable with the grandmother or grandfather
• The child does not really know or have a relationship with the grandmother or grandfather
• The child is somehow at risk with the grandmother or grandfather
• The child was somehow injured or frightened while in the grandparent’s care
• The grandparent or grandparents have not contacted the parents in a long time and being served with the court papers was a complete surprise
• The grandparents have left the child in the care of or exposed the child to persons who are inappropriate to be around the child
• The grandparents do not properly feed or care for the child while the children are or have been in their care
• The parent has never denied the grandparent visitation with the child, so there is no need for a court ordered visitation schedule
• The other parent is or was a bad person and so the child should not be exposed to the parents of the bad person
• Giving the grandparent rights to court ordered visitation takes away some of the rights of the parents
• The grandparents only wants grandparent rights in order to add to the court ordered visitation time which the other parent already has or is about to receive

The court hears these allegations all the time.   Some of them have merit, but most do not.  Almost none of them are provable in a court of law, because the allegations are mostly hearsay.

Before determining whether visitation is in the best interest of the child, a court is going to want to know why the visitation that the parent (grandparent’s son or daughter) already has is not available as time for the grandparent to see the child.  If the grandparent can regularly see the child during their son or daughter’s parenting time, a court will want to know what the grandparent felt the need to file for grandparent rights.  If the grandparent does not have a good answer to this question, the court will likely conclude that the grandparent simply wants to expand the amount of time their child has with the grandchildren, and deny the grandparent’s filing for grandparent rights.

Of all of the reasons that parents have for avoiding court ordered grandparent rights, the most commonly litigated reason is that the parent’s assertion that the grandparent already has access to the child and there is no need for a court ordered schedule.  If the grandparent is able to present credible evidence about why there is a need for the court ordered schedule, and establish that access to the grandchild was denied until the court papers were filed for grandparent rights, the parent’s assertion does not usually stand up under scrutiny.  If the parent who has custody of the children would rather go to trial than have a court ordered grandparent rights visitation schedule, this often has the effect of convincing the court that there IS a need for a court ordered schedule for grandparent visitation.

The second most litigated reason that reason parents give for denying grandparent visitation is that parents are willing to grant visitation, but the parents want to control and/or supervise the visitation.  A court is going to want to know if there is any reason that the grandparent is a risk to the grandchild.  If not, the court is going to want to know what the parent’s justification, in terms of the CHILD’S NEEDS, not the PARENT’S NEEDS, to have grandparent visitation controlled or supervised by the parent.

1. GRANDPARENT VISITATION WHEN THE PARENTS OF THE CHILD ARE OR WERE MARRIED

Pursuant to Ohio Revised Code 3109.051(B), a grandparent may request visitation with their grandchild or grandchildren by filing a motion in a divorce, dissolution of marriage, legal separation, annulment, or child support proceeding.  The law actually provides that the court may “grant reasonable companionship or visitation rights to any grandparent, any person related to the child by consanguinity or affinity, or any other person other than a parent”.  This means that anybody can try to intervene in these types of action and file a motion to receive visitation with a child.  However, just because anybody can apply, it does not mean that just anybody will be granted visitation of a child.  Aunts, uncles, friends of the family, people in gay or lesbian relationships can all apply for visitation, but of all these categories, grandparents are the class most likely to receive visitation.

It is important to note that if the parents of the child in question ARE STILL MARRIED and none of the above proceedings has been filed by the parents, then a grandparent does not have a right to even petition the court for visitation.   When weighing the needs of a child, the law in Ohio puts preserving the sanctity of an intact marriage ABOVE the need of the child to have a relationship with both sides of the child’s extended family.  This causes distress to many grandparents who are alienated from their grandchildren due to conflicts between the parents, or one of the parents, and the grandparents.  The bottom line is if the parents of the children are happily married, and the children are well cared for (not the subject of an abuse, neglect, dependency proceeding, or a Children Services case, then grandparents are going to have to work out their differences with the parents in order to have access to the child.  Grandparents - read this next line carefully - short of being a dangerous criminal or child abuser yourself, the surest way to make sure you never get access to your grandchildren is to make a false report to Children’s Services.  DON’T DO IT.  You cannot unring that bell, and a great lawyer isn’t going to change that.  If you pick up that phone to call the local Children’s Services in your county about your grandchildren, you need to have a darn good reason to do so.

In Ohio, a court can award visitation to a grandparent during one of the above types of proceedings, if ALL of the following apply:

(a) The grandparent, relative, or other person files a motion with the court seeking companionship or visitation rights.

(b) The court determines that the grandparent, relative, or other person has an interest in the welfare of the child.

(c) The court determines that the granting of the companionship or visitation rights is in the best interest of the child. (the factors used to determine the best interest of the child when deciding visitation rights is set out in Ohio Revised Code 3109.051(D).

If an award of grandparent visitation rights is made during the above types of proceedings, and circumstances later change, a grandparent can file to modify their grandparent visitation.  Under Ohio law, a court should not consider modifying an award of grandparent visitation unless circumstances have changed.

What is important to realize here is that if grandparents of children whose parents were married want grandparent visitation, then the grandparents need to become involved EARLY in the proceedings in which the parents end their divorce or seek child support in court.  If a grandparent waits to see what the court will do in the divorce, decides they do not like the amount of parenting time that their son or daughter received, and THEN tries to file for grandparent visitation, it will be too late.  Unless one of the parents files post-decree court proceedings to modify parenting issues or support, the grandparent will have lost their opportunity to petition for grandparent rights to visitation.

2.  GRANDPARENT VISITATION WHEN THE PARENTS OF THE CHILD WERE NOT OR ARE NOT MARRIED

GRANDPARENT VISITATION

Ohio law says that if a child is born to an unmarried woman, the parents of the woman and any relative of the mother of the child may file a complaint requesting the reasonable visitation with the child.  Relatives who have a familial tie to the child through the mother have an automatic right to request grandparent visitation.  Relatives who have a famial tie to the child through the father cannot petition the court for visitation with the child unless paternity of the child has been established.

When grandparent or relative visitation has been requested, the court may grant the visitation if it determines the visitation is in the best interest of the child.

The marriage or remarriage of the mother or father of a child does not affect the authority of the court to grant reasonable visitation with grandparents or relatives of either the father or the mother of the child.  Note this does not apply to adoption. This means that if a mother or father is not supporting his or her child, or if the mother or father is not visiting his or her child (either/or, does not have to be both), then he or she and their entire family could lose access to the child.

3.  GRANDPARENT VISITATION WHEN ONE OF THE PARENTS OF THE CHILD IS DECEASED (HAS PASSED AWAY)

If either the father or mother of an unmarried minor child is deceased, the court may grant the parents and other relatives of the deceased father or mother reasonable visitation rights if the court determines that this visitation is in the best interest of the child.

Remarriage of the surviving parent or the adoption by the spouse of the surviving parent does not affect the authority of the court to grant visitation rights with respect to the child.  Note that this is different than the rights of grandparents where both parents are living.

4.  GRANDPARENT RIGHTS WHERE CHILD IS LIVING WITH GRANDPARENT AND BOTH PARENTS ARE ABSENT

Ohio Revised Code 3109.65 provides a solution for a situation where a child is living with the grandparent and the parents of the child cannot be found.  This is only a temporary solution, and is not the same thing as legal custody, but it allows the grandparent to do necessary things for the child, such as enrolling the child in school, taking the child to the doctor, etc.

Ohio law states:

5.  GRANDPARENT POWER OF ATTORNEY

Ohio law provides that in certain circumstances a parent may give a grandparent a power of attorney to enroll the child in school, care for the child’s medical needs, etc.  This is similar to the caretaker affidavit situation described above, except that the parent is present and willing to execute the Power of Attorney.

When a parent seeks to create a power of attorney pursuant to section 3109.52 of the Revised Code, all of the following apply:

(A) The power of attorney shall be executed by both parents if any of the following apply:

(1) The parents are married to each other and are living as husband and wife.

(2) The child is the subject of a shared parenting order issued pursuant to section 3109.04 of the Revised Code.

(3) The child is the subject of a custody order issued pursuant to section 3109.04 of the Revised Code unless one of the following is the case:

(a) The parent who is not the residential parent and legal custodian is prohibited from receiving a notice of relocation in accordance with section 3109.051 of the Revised Code.

(b) The parental rights of the parent who is not the residential parent and legal custodian have been terminated by order of a juvenile court pursuant to Chapter 2151. of the Revised Code.

(c) The parent who is not the residential parent and legal custodian cannot be located with reasonable efforts.

(B) In all other cases, the power of attorney may be executed only by one of the following persons:

(1) The parent who is the residential parent and legal custodian of the child, as determined by court order or as provided in section 3109.042 of the Revised Code;

(2) The parent with whom the child is residing the majority of the school year in cases in which no court has issued an order designating a parent as the residential parent and legal custodian of the child or section 3109.042 of the Revised Code is not applicable.

Click here for a grandparent power of attorney form that you can copy and paste

6.  GRANDPARENT RIGHTS TO KINSHIP CARE, TEMPORARY CUSTODY, VISITATION, OR CUSTODY WHEN THE CHILD IS IN THE CUSTODY OF CHILDREN SERVICES, FAMILY AND YOUTH SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES OR A SIMILAR AGENCY

In my experience, Grandparents have a very difficult time obtaining custody of their grandchildren when they are in the temporary or legal custody of a PCSA (Public Children’s Services Agency) in Ohio.  It is very difficult to get the agency to tell you anything about the case.  Often, the grandparents will get either no information, mixed information or even false information from the Children’s Services Agency.   Most of the time however, they do not return your calls.

It is important to remember that phone calls are invisible.  I’ll say that again.  PHONE CALLS ARE INVISIBLE. Do NOT wait for that caseworker to return your call.  It probably won’t happen, and if it does, it still will not get you any closer to getting temporary or legal custody of your grandchild.  If a children’s services case is open on your grandchild, and you want to take temporary or legal custody of your grandchild, or have your grandchild live with you while the children’s services case is pending, you need to notify children’s services, IN WRITING, that you are will to take legal custody, temporary custody, provide kinship care, or simply have the child placed with you while the court case is proceeding.  You are well advised to fax this information to children’s services.  You can send faxes at many stores, like FedEx/Kinko’s, Staples, or other similar stores.  KEEP THE FAX CONFIRMATION RECEIPT to prove the letter was received.

Now, getting information regarding a working fax number of the Children’s Services case worker assigned to your child’s case may be difficult in and of itself.  You do not have a lot of time.  Sometimes Children’s Services case move very quickly and if you do not act early in the case, almost right away, you are damaging your chances of being able to take custody of your grandchild if their parents lose custody.

If you are the parent of a child that is participating in the court case, your (adult) child’s attorney may be able to give you the fax number.  If not, try using the main fax number for the children’s services agency, which should be able to be found on the internet.  (Please note, ODJFS keeps a listing of the children’s services phone numbers and fax numbers for all 88 Counties.  I recently tried to the call the phone number for one of those counties, and it rang endlessly with no answer.  Don’t be discouraged!  There are phone numbers for the main children’s services office, and many regional children’s services offices.  Ask a person who knows how to search the internet well to help you find one.  You can fax it to a couple of different fax numbers to make sure it gets through.)  Address the letter to both the caseworker and the supervisor of the caseworker.  It is okay if you don’t know their names, just make sure that you have the names and date of birth of the child and, if possible, the parents, included in the letter and spelled correctly.  If the parents go by different names, and not always their legal names, include that information as well so that the Children Services agency can match up the letter with the appropriate caseworker.  When you fax the letter, send a second fax with a copy of the fax confirmation sheet.  This sends a message that you can prove that you notified the caseworker regarding your intention to take temporary or legal custody of your grandchild, or become a care giver for your grandchild.

Okay, so you have notified the caseworker that you want to take custody of your grandchild, even if only temporarily.  Don’t expect anything to happen yet, you have a lot more work to do.  Now you have to notify the COURT.  This is as important if not MORE important than notifying the agency.  The agency often has different motives than the court.  The Court is more likely to recognize and properly address your right to seek custody of your grandchild if they are removed from their parents’ care, either temporarily or permanently.

Under Ohio Revised Code 2151.353 (Orders of Disposition of Abused, Neglected and Dependent Children), the law of Ohio provides that ONE of the options a court may choose is a child is found to be abused, neglected or dependent would be to award temporary or legal custody to A RELATIVE LIVING INSIDE OR OUTSIDE THE STATE. In order for a person to be awarded legal custody, that person MUST HAVE FILED A MOTION REQUESTING LEGAL CUSTODY PRIOR TO THE DISPOSITIONAL HEARING.

In addition to filing a motion, everyone in the grandparent’s household must go through a background check, which usually involves being fingerprinted by Children’s Services.  If Children’s Services will not cooperate with you, will not return your calls, and drags their feet about performing a background check, you are probably going to have to pay for one yourself.  This can be done electronically, through fingerprinting.  Request that the results be sent to you, not to Children’s Services.  When you get the results, take them to court to show the judge or magistrate.  At that point Children’s Services will probably say that the fingerprint results are unacceptable and the magistrate will probably ask Children’s Services why they didn’t return your calls and arrange for you to be fingerprinted.  At that point, Children’s Services will probably follow through with your fingerprinting.  So why did you go through this silly, expensive ordeal?  So that Children’s Services would have to either do the background check or accept the one you had done.

At this point, you are probably beginning to understand what a difficult ordeal that grandparents and other relatives have when trying to get custody of their grandchildren in a children’s services case.  If you have the means to afford a lawyer, and you truly want to obtain custody of your grandchildren, you are well advised to get a lawyer EARLY in the case, not when it’s too late.  Because of the lack of information or incorrect information grandparents receive about their grandchildren when they are in the custody of children’s services, grandparents often wait too long to retain a lawyer.  For example, failing to file a motion for custody BEFORE the children are determined to be abused, neglected or dependent by a court, and instead waiting until the children have been in the custody of the agency for many months, and the agency has filed a motion to terminate parental rights.  If parental rights are terminated, grandparents may have no legal right or access to custody or visitation with their grandchildren.  Waiting and hoping that things will work out for the best may have cost these grandparents dearly.  Instead, the best thing they could have done is to become involved early and if possible, hire a lawyer.

Children’s Services is charged with ensuring the safety of the child.  They are naturally going to trust a foster parent more than a relative because the foster parent is motivated to be honest with the agency and to provide supervision as required by the agency.  The agency trusts a foster parent not to release the child back to the parent who, according to the law, abused or neglected the child.  However, the children’s services agency does not have the final say in who receives custody of the child.  Grandparents and relatives CANNOT prove a negative.  They cannot prove that they are NOT going to do something.  The court knows this, but it helps to have an attorney to represent the grandparents in court.

Matters are even more complicated if the grandparent seeking custody lives outside of the state of Ohio.  In order to place children outside of the state of Ohio, Children’s Services must comply with the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children.  Pursuant to Ohio Administrative Code 5101:2-52-04, the Ohio Children’s Service Agency must make the request to the Ohio Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children Office (ICPC) of its need to obtain an evaluation of a placement resource and the receiving state’s authorization to place the child.  By simply failing to do this, a Children’s Services agency can make it impossible for a grandparent to receive custody of their child.  Therefore, the grandparent will probably have to engage the help of the court in order to receive custody of their grandchild.  The best way to do this, if it is at all possible, is to engage a competent, knowledgeable lawyer to help them.

7.  Articles and resources for grandparents rights in Ohio:

New York Times Article re Ohio Supreme Court Case Harrold v. Collier

Law and Articles

Grandparenting.org

grandparentsforchildren.org

8. GRANDPARENTS RIGHTS LAWYER OHIO & GRANDPARENTS RIGHTS ATTORNEY OHIO

The Law Offices of Virginia C. Cornwell has had tremendous success in representing Grandparents who have grandchildren residing in Ohio.  Some of our grandparent clients live in Ohio, but many live in other U.S. states.  We have helped grandparents obtain custody or visitation.  Part of our success is due to our open and direct communication with our clients.  We don’t beat around the bush, we tell it like it is.  This allows our client to make an informed decision about which goals they want to pursue, and what course of action is most likely to get them there.  We are proud of our record of success in the area of grandparent rights and we look forward to many more years of service in this area of law.

The information provided in this web site is applicable in the state of Ohio and is provided as a public service. While Virginia Cornwell is a Columbus Ohio Divorce Lawyer, and a Columbus Ohio Custody Attorney, and an Ohio Grandparent Rights Attorney, viewing the information in this web site does not constitute an attorney-client communication, and acting upon information obtained from this web site does not create an attorney-client relationship. If you would like to discuss the application of the law to your fact situation, or if you would like additional information, please call the Law Offices of Virginia C. Cornwell at 614-225-9316 to schedule a consultation.

Schedule a Consultation:

1. Your Name:(required)
2. Your Email:(required)
3. Phone Number to Reach You:(required)
4. Message(required)
5. I am aware that the initial consultation fee is $100.
6. I have not included any contact information that should not be used to reach me.

 

cforms contact form by delicious:days

Published in Child Custodian, Child Custody Forms, Child Visitation, Child Visitation Ohio, Columbus Ohio Child Custody Law, Columbus Ohio Custody Lawyer, Columbus Ohio Divorce Lawyer, Columbus Ohio Divorce Lawyers, Find a Lawyer, Free Custody Forms, Grandparent Rights, Grandparent custody, Grandparent power of attorney, Grandparent visitation, Grandparents Rights Attorney, Grandparents Rights Attorney Ohio, Grandparents Rights Lawyer, Grandparents Rights Lawyer Ohio, Legal Forms, OH Family Law, Ohio Custody Lawyer, Ohio Divorce Lawyer, Ohio Visitation Rights, Packet of Forms, Visitation Rights, child custody, grandparents attorney, grandparents custody, grandparents lawyer