Grandparent Visitation
by Craig B. Partyka

  
Under Alaska law grandparents have the right to seek visitation rights with their grandchildren provided that certain conditions are met.  First, if no previous case has been filed, a grandparent can petition the court for visitation if:  (1) the grandparent has established or attempted to establish ongoing personal contact with the child and (2) visitation by the grandparent is in the child’s best interests.

 On the other hand, if a previous custody order or an adoption has occurred then a grandparent’s ability to seek visitation is limited.  Under these circumstances a grandparent may petition a court for visitation only if (1) the grandparent did not request visitation in a prior legal proceeding or (2) there has been a change of circumstances with the custodial parent or the child that justifies reconsideration of the grandparent’s visitation rights.

 Grandparent visitation is a hot issue nationally, particularly among the legal community, since 2000, when the United States Supreme Court entered its decision in Troxel v. Granville.  In that case the U.S. Supreme court agreed with the state of Washington’s Supreme Court that Washington’s grandparent visitation statute was unconstitutionally applied.  The statute was too broad in that it allowed any person at any time to file a petition for visitation.  The statute also failed to state that the trial court must give special consideration to a parent’s decision to deny the grandparent’s requested visitation.  Because the lower court failed to give special consideration to the parent’s decision opposing visitation, the parent’s constitutional right to raise her children was not protected.  The U.S. Supreme Court also cautioned state courts to apply their statutes according to the facts and circumstances of each case.  Thus, whether a constitutional violation occurs will likely depend upon how the court applies the statute to the particular circumstances before it.

 Across the nation state courts have differed as to whether their own grandparent visitation statutes violate the federal Constitution.  In Alaska, a case is currently pending before the state Supreme Court.