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What Are Grandparents’ Rights In Arkansas?

The role of grandparents in our society is quickly changing.

Sometimes grandparents are faced with the dilemma of needing to step in to care for their grandchildren when the parents are either unable or unwilling to care for the children – whether due to drug addiction or alcohol abuse, incarceration, abandonment or any number of reasons.

Other times, grandparents are pushed out of their grandchildren’s lives after the parents have divorced or when a parent (the grandparent’s child) dies and the custodial parent no longer allows the grandparent time with the child.

Attorney Scott Scholl has the knowledge and experience to protect the rights of grandparents in Arkansas to maintain a relationship with their grandchildren.

Grandparent Visitation And Custody

In 2000, the United States Supreme Court made a decision in the case of Troxel v. Granville that had a profound impact on the visitation rights of grandparents, not only in Arkansas but across the nation.  In Troxel, the Supreme Court struck down a Washington statute that provided that any interested person could be granted visitation rights whenever the visitation was in the child’s best interests. The reasoning of the Supreme Court was that the due process clause of the Constitution prohibited the states from interfering with the fundamental right of parents to make decisions concerning the care, custody and control of their children, to include those persons with whom the children are exposed.

However, Troxel did not bring an end to the rights of grandparents to seek visitation with their grandchildren. As a result of Troxel, and the cases that followed, Arkansas redrafted its grandparent visitation statutes to allow a grandparent to seek visitation under certain circumstances when they have established a significant and viable relationship with their grandchild and it is in the best interests of the child for visitation to occur.

Attorney Scott Scholl has the knowledge and experience to protect the rights of grandparents. If you are experiencing problems with being able to maintain a relationship with your grandchildren, contact us online or call 501-588-1148 for a free consultation to see how we can help.