Mississippi: Court rules that Grandparent visitation is in the best interests of children. By: Samantha M.

Link for Opinion: http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?q=Grandparent+visitation&hl=en&as_sdt=4,25&as_ylo=2010&as_yhi=2012&case=17536198929719650981&scilh=0

In the case of Walley v. Pierce, No. 2010-CA-00409-COA (Miss. Ct. App 2011), the Court of Appeals of Mississippi affirmed the decision of the chancellor awarding the grandparents unsupervised visitation with the three minor children of the Walleys. The Court found it was in the best interests of the children and the chancellor had made no error when awarding visitation to the maternal grandparents.

The maternal grandparents petitioned for visitation of their grandchildren on February 11, 2009 after the Walleys moved into a rental home in 2008. The Walleys were originally residing in a mobile home on the property of the Pierces, the maternal grandparents, and thus allowing the grandparents to develop a relationship with the children. The Walleys left due to growing tensions between the parents and grandparents of the minor children.

The grandparents argued that the Pierces were unreasonably withholding visitation, to the detriment of their grandchildren. After reviewing all evidence, the chancellor decided that, despite the fact that the family was intact and the Walleys were not unfit parents, it was still in the best interests of the children to set aside the wishes of the parents and grant the Pierces visitation.

On appeal the parents argue that the visitation should be overturned based on the findings in Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57 (2000) and that the chancellor committed an error by not giving special weight to the parents decisions regarding visitation involving their children. However, the appellate court found that the chancellor did in fact give special weight to the Walleys wishes, but simply found them lacking and granted the visitation because the grandparents had met their burden in proving the visitation was in the best interests of the children.

Labels for the post: grandparent visitation, intact family, Troxel v. Granville, third party visitation