AZ Grandparents Sustain Another Blow to Grandparent Visitation Rights
Dad has 4 hours of visitation every other week, supervised by the child’s grandmother.
An old Arizona statute allows judges to award visitation to grandparents.
The grandmother here was awarded visitation of her own.
Later, Mom gives notice of her intent to move out of state to care for an ailing relative.
Another, newer, Arizona statute allows a noncustodial parent to object to the custodial parent relocating their children to another state.
Dad apparently did not object to the relocation under that statute.
Instead, Grandma, in essence, did, by seeking to block the relocation, by relying on that statute.
An intermediate Arizona appeals court said the statute blocking relocation was only available to the noncustodial parent, not to grandparents.
The grandmother’s attorney intends to appeal to the state’s highest court, with the argument that this ruling allows the custodial parent to thwart grandparent visitation rights simply by relocating.
A ruling elevating grandparent visitation rights would be against the weight of federal and state court rulings entered after the passage of the grandparent visitation statute in Arizona.
Read more in this East Valley [Phoenix] Tribune article: Ruling could affect grandparents’ visitation.
