Third-Party Visitation – Grandparent Visitation
• Establishing and defending third-party visitation claims (grandparent/stepparent)
• Post decree modification of third-party visitation rights and schedules
• Enforcement – intrastate, interstate, and international
Ron’s Experience:
Ron has filed and defended thirty party visitation claims for the past 25 years – at the trial court level as well as in the appellate courts. Ron handled an early grandparent visitation case that established that the burden of proof is on a grandparent seeking to obtain visitation with grandchildren. Later, Ron handled other appeals that held that merely because a parent has refused to allow grandparents continuing contact with grandchildren does not mean that a previously established ‘substantial relationship’ no longer exists. And Ron has been involved in the drafting legislation addressing concerns of both parents and grandparents about third-party visitation.
Articles:
Author – “Troxel vs. Granville: The Supreme Court Wades into the Quagmire of Third Party Visitation,” 13 Divorce Litigation, Issue 7 (July, 2000)
Appellate Cases:
State ex rel. Kansas Department of SRS v. Strotkamp, 30 Kan.App.2d – (2002) (grandparent visitation – burden of proof; ‘substantial relationship’ requirement; upholding grandparent visitation)
DeGraeve v. Holm, 30 Kan.App.2d 865 (2002) (grandparent visitation – burden of proof; attorneys fees assessment; upholding grandparent visitation)
Santaniello v. Santaniello, 18 Kan. App. 2d 112 (1992) (grandparent visitation – burden of proof requirements; deference to parental decisions)