Grandparents' Rights

Jan. 5, 2000

Next week, the U-S Supreme Court will consider a case that could make it tougher for grandparents to win visitation rights to see their grandchildren. Today's Family Now report looks at the issue from the grandparents' point of view.

They dote.. they spoil.. and they love. They're grandparents.

A survey by the Association for the Advancement of Retired Persons finds that a vast majority of grandparents see their grandchildren at least every month. For grandparents like Judine and Warren Johnson, visiting their five grandchildren is a regular part of life.

Judine Johnson/Grandmother: "WE SEE THEM AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK, OFTEN TIMES MUCH MORE."

The AARP says courts should recognize the importance of this relationship. The association sides with Gary and Jennifer Troxel in Washington state. After their son died and their former daughter-in-law remarried, the Troxels found themselves cut off from their granddaughters.

Jennifer Troxel/Grandmother: "SICK TO OUR STOMACH, OR SICK TO MY STOMACH ANYWAY."

) The Troxels first won visitation rights. But the state supreme court overruled, saying unless it harms the child not to see grandparents, the decision should be up to the parents.

The AARP says the court's ruling squeezes grandparents out of their important roles.

Its survey also found that about eight percent of grandparents provide day care on a regular basis, and three percent are raising a grandchild. One-third live within an hour's drive of their grandchildren.

The AARP is trying to make sure the U.S. Supreme Court doesn't let stand the Washington state decision which refuses visitation rights to grandparents.

Rochelle Trobloff/AARP lawyer: "IT WOULD BE MUCH HARDER FOR GRANDPARENTS TO GET A COURT ORDER FOR VISITATION RIGHTS."

The survey indicates that the number of grandparent caregivers has increased dramatically in recent decades.

The Supreme Court will decide whether parents have a constitutional right to decide who gets to spend time with their children. The decision will likely affect grandparent visitation laws in all 50 states.