A Judge’s Guide

RECURRING ISSUES
50 Id. at 210.
51 LEMON, supra note 18, at 68.
52 LEMON, supra note 18, at 68.
53 Janet R. Johnston & Linda K. Girdner, Early Identification of Parents at Risk for
Custody Violations and Prevention of Child Abductions, 36 FAM. &CONCILIATION
COURTS REV. 392, 405 (1998).
54 Id.
55 Id.
56 Id.
57 Id.
58 BARBARA STARK,INTERNATIONAL FAMILY LAW:AN INTRODUCTION 201 – 203
(2005).
59 Lemon, supra note 18, at 68.
60 Johnston & Girdner, supra note 53, at 405.
61 Johnston & Girdner, supra note 53, at 409.
62 Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57 (2000).
63 Barbara Bennett Woodhouse, Protecting Children’s Relationships with Extended
Families: The Impact of Troxel v. Granville, 19 CHILD LAW PRACTICE 66, 70 (2000).
64 See, e.g., In re G.P.C., 28 S.W.3d 357 (Mo. Ct. App. 2000)(third-party visitation
order upheld, distinguishing state statute and facts of case from those of
Troxel); Brice v. Brice, 754 A.2d 1132 (Md. Ct. Spec. App. 1999)(while court
overturned grandparent visitation award under Troxel in a factually similar case,
the court rejected claim that the third-party visitation statute was facially
unconstitutional).
65 Troxel, 530 U.S. at n.1; see also Victoria Roth, Grandparents’ Right to Visitation, 1
ELDER’S ADVISOR 51, 52 (1999); see generally Brent Bennett, et al., To
Grandmother’s House We Go: Examining Troxel, Harrold, and the Future of Third-
Party Visitation, 74 U. CIN.L.REV. 1549 (2006).
66 See, e.g., ARK. CODE ANN. § 9-13-103 (statute establishes “rebuttable
presumption” that parent’s decision to deny or limit grandparent visitation is
in child’s best interest; grandparent can rebut presumption if he or she has
“established a significant and viable relationship with the child” and visitation
is in the child’s best interest; statute defines “significant and viable
relationship” and best interest considerations); CAL. FAM. CODE §§ 3103(a),
3104(a)(grandparent visitation is permitted if in chid’s best interest; rebuttable
presumption visitation is not in child’s best interest if parents agree
grandparents should not be granted rights; court must find 1) preexisting
relationship between grandparent and child that has “engendered bond”
rendering visitation in the child’s best interest and 2) “balances” child’s interest
139 139