Grandparents Rights Virginia Custody Visitation Maryland Massachusetts Lawyers Laws
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Home Page > Law > National, State, Local > Grandparents Rights Virginia Custody Visitation Maryland Massachusetts Lawyers Laws
Grandparents Rights Virginia Custody Visitation Maryland Massachusetts Lawyers Laws
Posted: Jul 19, 2010
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Grandparents Rights Virginia Custody Visitation Maryland Massachusetts Lawyers Laws
About the Author
The SRIS Law Group Grandparents Rights Lawyers assist grandparents with custody and visitation rights so that they may visit or obtain custody of their grandchildren in Virginia, Maryland & Massachusetts.
(ArticlesBase SC #2857818)
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ – Grandparents Rights Virginia Custody Visitation Maryland Massachusetts Lawyers Laws
MARK MERRITT, SR. AND JAYNE MERRITT v. SANDRA-JOY GRAY
COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA
Following the death of the child’s biological mother, father did not allow grandmother to visit with the child for some eleven months. In August 1994, grandmother filed a petition seeking visitation with her grandson. In January 1995, around the time father relocated with his family to Nashville, Tennessee, the parties entered into an Agreed Order in the juvenile and domestic relations district court incorporating their agreement that visitation of the child with grandmother was in the child’s best interests. The court order fixed specific dates of visitation on two designated weekends. In April 2001, parents sent a letter to grandmother stating that they wanted more authority over visitation and desired to reduce the child’s visits with her. In May 2001, father filed a petition to modify the 1995 consent order. On February 20, 2002, the juvenile and domestic relations district court denied father’s petition, finding that the reasons given by father did not constitute a “material” change in circumstances. Father appealed the denial of his petition to modify the 1995 order to the circuit court.
Whether the trial court erred in finding that the changes in circumstances were not sufficient to warrant modification of the 1995 Agreed Order?
Whether the trial court erred in not applying an “actual harm” analysis in determining whether continued visitation with grandmother by child was in his best interest?
Whether the trial court erred in ruling that the parent had permanently “waived their constitutional rights” as a result of entering into the 1995 consent order?
Whether the trial court erred in finding that the changes in circumstances were not sufficient to warrant modification of the 1995 Agreed Order?
The trial court found that the time the child spent visiting with grandmother was not of a degree to conflict with his increased activities. It noted that grandmother accommodated the child’s increased activities when those scheduled activities occurred when the child visited her, noting specifically that she took the child to his scheduled football practices, and accommodated his scouting trips when they occurred during her visitation periods. The trial court also found that the family’s return to Northern Virginia where grandmother resided did not make visitation more difficult. The court held that the changes were not “material changes in circumstances, which would warrant modification of the existing Court order.” We conclude that the trial court did not err in finding that the changes in circumstances were not sufficient to warrant modification of the 1995 Agreed Order governing visitation and that there is credible evidence in the record to support its decision.
Whether the trial court erred in not applying an “actual harm” analysis in determining whether continued visitation with grandmother by child was in his best interest?
The court held that since the trial court found that no material changes in circumstances had occurred to warrant modifying the consent order, including that continuing visitation was in the best interests of the child, it was not necessary for it to apply the “actual harm” test in determining whether to modify the 1995 Agreed Order.
Whether the trial court erred in ruling that the parent had permanently “waived their constitutional rights” as a result of entering into the 1995 consent order?
The court held that the parents, unquestionably fit parents, entered into the Agreed Order in March of 1995 that not only permitted visitation but also announced their agreement that such visitation was in the best interests of their child. Here, the parents never voiced opposition to visitation occurring. We find no indication in the record that the trial court ruled that parents’ consent to the entry of the 1995 Agreed Order, granting to grandmother limited visitation with the child, divested them permanently of their constitutionally protected interests in the care and control of their child. There is no showing in the record before us that the trial court failed to “accord at least some special weight” to the parents’ determination of visitation periods when those decisions were presented to it. As we noted above, parents voluntarily “waived” their parental rights to a limited degree by asking the court to assist in the establishment of times of visitation when the parties were unable to agree. As the trial court noted in announcing its decision from the bench, the parents could not reduce the consent order to “a sham” by de facto refusing to agree to any times for visitation. The trial court did not err in concluding that the parents waived their constitutional rights to a limited degree when they entered into a consent order agreeing that their child’s visitation with his grandmother was in his best interests.
We affirmed the Judgment of trial court.
Disclaimer:
These summaries are provided by the SRIS Law Group. They represent the firm’s unofficial views of the Justices’ opinions. The original opinions should be consulted for their authoritative content.
(ArticlesBase SC #2857818)
Atchuthan Sriskandarajah -
About the Author:
The SRIS Law Group Grandparents Rights Lawyers assist grandparents with custody and visitation rights so that they may visit or obtain custody of their grandchildren in Virginia, Maryland & Massachusetts.
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The SRIS Law Group Grandparents Rights Lawyers assist grandparents with custody and visitation rights so that they may visit or obtain custody of their grandchildren in Virginia, Maryland & Massachusetts.
Posted in Lawyers Articles