A recently decided case, Jones v. Jones, 2013 UT App 174 (UT App. 2013), has completely changed the way that courts evaluate Utah’s Grandparent Visitation Statute (U.C.A. § 30-2-5). This statute was created to give grandparents their own independent rights to visitation with their grandchildren if grandparents could prove the factors identified in the statute. But this statute has been found to be unconstitutional.
In Jones, the Court determined that the Grandparent Visitation Statute was unconstitutional as applied to the mother in that case. The Court applied strict scrutiny to the statute and found that the grandparents had not shown that the state’s interest in ordering visitation was compelling because they were not protecting a child who is abused, neglected or dependent. The Court further stated that, even if the state did have a compelling interest, the grandparent would also have to prove that the statute was narrowly tailored to achieve that interest. The Court implied, however, that the grandparent statute is not narrowly tailored.
Based on this decision, grandparents are effectively precluded from obtaining visitation rights. Therefore, if grandparents want to maintain a relationship with their grandchildren and the parent is denying it, the grandparents would have to file a third-party petition for custody or a guardianship case, both of which require grandparents to be willing to take on the full-time care of their grandchildren.
Call Millar Legal
If you or someone you know needs help with a case, please call 801-424-5280 to schedule a consultation, or use our online scheduling tool.
