As of 2004, Michigan law gives grandparents certain rights to prove in court that they should be allowed to see their grandchildren. Grandparents may request visitation from the court in cases of divorce, out-of-wedlock births, the death of a parent or care by the grandparent within a year of the request for visitation. The law is designed to permit grandparents and grandchildren who have a relationship to continue seeing one another, even if the parents' relationship breaks down.
History
In 2003, the Michigan Supreme Court considered Michigan's then-existing grandparents visitation law and ruled it was unconstitutional. In that case, known as Derose v. Derose, the Supreme Court asked the Michigan legislature to re-draft Michigan's grandparent visitation laws so that they would meet the constitutional requirements. The new law passed the Michigan House and Senate unanimously in December 2004.
Standing
MCL 722.27b allows grandparents to petition the court for grandparenting time with a grandchild in any one of five circumstances. To petition the court, the parents must be in the process of or have finished divorcing; the parent related to the grandparents is deceased; the parents are not living together and paternity has been established; the child is under the legal guardianship of someone who is not a parent or grandparent; or the child was in the custody of the grandparent at some point during the year before the grandparent petitioned for custody.
Hearing
A grandparent who falls into one of the above categories may request a hearing from the court. During the hearing, the grandparent must prove that being denied visitation will cause mental, emotional or physical harm to the child. If the court agrees, it will then consider what kind of visitation and how much would be in the child's best interests.
Factors
When considering whether granting grandparenting time is in the child's best interests, the court will consider a number of factors. These include the quality of the relationship between the child and grandparent; the mental and physical health of the child and grandparent; the grandparent's moral fitness; the grandparent's willingness to have a close relationship with the child; whether the child has been abused by a grandparent or any other member of the family; why the parent originally refused to let the grandparent see the child; whether any hostility between the parent and grandparent might harm the child; and, if the child is old enough, what he or she prefers.
Prevention
Even if the grandparent proves the above factors, the court will not allow grandparenting time if the child's two parents, who must both be deemed "fit" by the court, sign an affidavit stating that neither one wants the child to have visitation with the grandparent. In that case, there is nothing the court can do to grant the grandparent visitation with the child.
