The Colorado Supreme Court Protects Grandparents’ Rights to Visit Their Grandchildren

The Colorado Supreme Court recently overruled a decision of the Court of Appeals, thus protecting the rights of grandparents to pursue court ordered visits with their grandchildren. 

On June 26, 2006, the Supreme Court ruled that if grandparents seek visitation with their grandchildren, against the wishes of the parents, it is presumed that the parents’ decision regarding grandparent visitation is in the best interest of the child.  However, the grandparents can overcome this presumption by showing through clear and convincing evidence that the parents’ decision is not in the child’s best interest and that the visitation schedule that they seek is in the child’s best interest. 

This case before the court began after a married couple passed away, leaving behind a young child.  After the child was adopted by his maternal aunt and uncle, the child’s paternal grandparents made every effort to continue their relationship with the child.   Unfortunately, the grandparents were unable to reach an agreement with the child’s adoptive parents as to visitation with their grandchild. 

The grandparents continued to pursue visitation with the child by bringing their case to the Colorado courts.  The District Court ordered the adoptive parents to allow the grandparents to visit with their grandchild for a few weeks each year and to visit with him via telephone for a short period on Sundays. 

The adoptive parents appealed this decision to the Colorado Court of Appeals, where the Court accepted their position and terminated the grandparents’ right to visitation with the child.  The Court of Appeal’s decision made it more difficult for grandparents to gain extended periods of visitation with their Colorado grandchildren.  That Court ruled that grandparents can have visitation rights, against the wishes of the parents, but only if they show that the parents are unfit to make a visitation determination or that the parents’ visitation decision would substantially endanger the emotional health of the child. 

Fortunately, the Supreme Court has overruled the decision of the Court of Appeals, and the grandparents’ case has been sent back to the District Court to apply the new standard  to determine if visitation with his grandparents is in the child’s best interest.   

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