What's happening
This bill revises the law on grandparent visitation or custody, adding stricter requirements and a strong presumption favoring parental decisions.
Why it matters
Raises the bar for grandparents. The bill requires grandparents seeking visitation to show, with detailed and specific allegations, that denying them visitation would significantly harm the child's health, safety, or welfare—moving away from more general or subjective standards.
Strong legal presumption for parents. Courts must start with a strong presumption that a fit parent’s decision about grandparent visitation is in the child’s best interest, making it much harder for grandparents to override parental choices.
Enhanced safety and procedural checks. Grandparents petitioning for visitation must prove they have no history of domestic violence, and the court must independently check for any such reports, orders of protection, or criminal history before considering their request.
Discourages frivolous litigation. The bill allows courts to order unsuccessful petitioners who acted in bad faith or without merit to pay the other side’s legal costs and attorney’s fees, which could deter unnecessary or harassing court actions by grandparents.
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Who cares
Grandparents seeking visitation
They would face stricter standing requirements, including detailed allegations of significant harm from denied visitation, a good-faith reconciliation attempt and proof of fitness with no reported domestic violence history.
Parents opposing grandparent visitation
Their decisions would receive a strong presumption of validity, and a parent's death would no longer automatically give grandparents standing to seek visitation.
Supreme Court and Family Court judges
They would have to conduct domestic violence, order-of-protection and criminal-history searches, delay guardian ad litem appointments until standing is determined and issue written findings supporting visitation orders.
Grandparents bringing unsuccessful petitions
They could be ordered to pay costs, including attorney's fees, if the court finds their case was brought in bad faith or was frivolous or non-meritorious.
Headline styles
Limit Grandparent Visitation Rights
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
2 Co-sponsors
History
- Referred to children and families
- Referred to children and families
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Limit Grandparent Visitation Rights
In Assembly Committee · Judiciary · Sponsor Carrie Woerner
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
5252
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
April 18, 2019
Introduced by Sen. MAY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Children and Families
AN ACT to amend the domestic relations law, in relation to the rights of grandparents with respect to visitation rights or custody of minor children
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 72 of the domestic relations law, as amended by chapter 657 of the laws of 2003, is amended to read as follows:
§ 72. Special proceeding or habeas corpus to obtain visitation rights or custody in respect to certain infant grandchildren. 1. (a) Where [either or both of the parents of a minor child, residing within this state, is or are deceased, or where] circumstances show that conditions exist which equity would see fit to intervene, a grandparent or the grandparents of [such child] a minor child, residing within this state may apply to the supreme court by commencing a special proceeding or for a writ of habeas corpus to have such child brought before such court, or may apply to the family court pursuant to subdivision (b) of section six hundred fifty-one of the family court act[; and on].
(b) When determining whether such grandparent or grandparents shall have standing to commence such proceedings pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subdivision, a strong presumption exists in favor of parental decisions concerning visitation. Further, the court shall not appoint a guardian ad litem until such time as standing of such grandparent or grandparents has been determined. A petitioner seeking to overturn a parental decision must allege, with detail and specificity, that the child would experience significant harm to his or her health, safety, or welfare if visitation were denied. Prior to filing the petition, the petitioner must have made a good faith attempt at reconciliation with the respondent and the petition must allege so with specificity, and must be verified or accompanied by a verified affidavit. The petitioner
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01221-01-9
S. 5252 2
must demonstrate that he or she is a fit and proper person to have visitation rights with the child and that he or she has no reported history of domestic violence. The court shall also conduct its own search to determine whether the petitioner has ever had a domestic violence incident report filed against him or her. The court shall further conduct a search to determine whether the petitioner is, or ever has been, subject to an order of protection or has any criminal history. The court may also consider whether or not either or both of the parents of such child is or are deceased, however, such factor shall not automatically grant a grandparent or the grandparents of such child standing to commence such proceedings pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subdivision.
(c) On the return thereof, the court, by order, after due notice to the parent or any other person or party having the care, custody, and control of such child, to be given in such manner as the court shall prescribe, may make such directions as the best interest of the child may require, for visitation rights for such grandparent or grandparents in respect to such child. Any finding concerning the best interests of the child shall be subject to the strong presumption that the parents' decision is in the child's best interest, and visitation may only be ordered in circumstances in which the child's health, safety or welfare would be adversely affected by the denial of visitation. The court's finding supporting an order of visitation shall be in writing.
2. (a) Where a grandparent or the grandparents of a minor child, residing within this state, can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the court the existence of extraordinary circumstances, such grandparent or grandparents of such child may apply to the supreme court by commencing a special proceeding or for a writ of habeas corpus to have such child brought before such court, or may apply to family court pursuant to subdivision (b) of section six hundred fifty-one of the family court act; and on the return thereof, the court, by order, after due notice to the parent or any other person or party having the care, custody, and control of such child, to be given in such manner as the court shall prescribe, may make such directions as the best interests of the child may require, for custody rights for such grandparent or grandparents in respect to such child. An extended disruption of custody, as such term is defined in this section, shall constitute an extraordinary circumstance.
(b) For the purposes of this section "extended disruption of custody" shall include, but not be limited to, a prolonged separation of the respondent parent and the child for at least twenty-four continuous months during which the parent voluntarily relinquished care and control of the child and the child resided in the household of the petitioner grandparent or grandparents, provided, however, that the court may find that extraordinary circumstances exist should the prolonged separation have lasted for less than twenty-four months.
(c) Nothing in this section shall limit the ability of parties to enter into consensual custody agreements absent the existence of extraordinary circumstances.
3. The court may direct that costs and allowances in whole or in part, including attorney's fees, be payable by an unsuccessful petitioner where the court finds that the contest was brought in bad faith or was frivolous or non-meritorious.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the domestic relations law, in relation to the rights of grandparents with respect to visitation rights or custody of minor children
PURPOSE
The purpose of this bill is to require that grandparents be granted legal standing by a judge before being considered for visitation rights or custody of a minor child.
Read the full memo (661 words)
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS
Section 1 amends part 1 of section 72 of the domestic relations, law to establish the requirements of the petitioner and of the court in a case to overturn a parental decision regarding custody or visitation of their child. Subsection (a) is amended to specify that any child in question must reside in this state. A new subsection, (b), is added to stipulate that a presumption exists in favor of parental decisions and any peti- tioner wishing to overturn such a decision must allege that it would not be in the best interest of the child if visitation were denied. Addi- tionally, the court shall be required to check the criminal history of the petitioner for domestic incidents and past or current orders of protection. This subsection also stipulates that a court shall not assign a child a guardian ad litem until such time as the standing of the petitioner is determined. Part (c) is amended to reiterate that overturning the decision of a parent regarding visitation must be in the best interest of the child and that the court's finding shall be in writing. An additional part, part 3, is added to allow costs and allow- ances in whole or in part be payable by an unsuccessful petitioner where the court finds that the contest was brought in bad faith or was frivo- lous or non-meritorious.
Section 2 establishes the effective date.
Justification
Currently, New York State law allows the potential for grandparents' lawsuits to gain visitation rights or custody of minor children to be unfairly expensive for parents and emotionally taxing for both children and parents.
Parents who do not allow grandparents to visit their children for safety reasons-because a grandparent is a convicted sex offender or felon, for example-are often forced to pay tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees to make the multiple court appearances necessary to answer grand- parents' lawsuits. Recently, a family in New York State paid over $40,000 in legal costs and spent over six months attending court appear- ances to fight a grandparent's lawsuit for visitation rights because the grandparent had a history of abusing other family members.
This bill seeks to prevent such situations by:
(1) Allowing, but not requiring, the court to consider whether or not either or both of the parents of the child in question are deceased when determining whether or not a grandparent has standing to commence a proceeding to gain visitation rights or custody; (2) Requiring that the court cannot determine whether or not a grandpar- ent has standing to commence a proceeding to gain visitation rights or custody of a child on the same day that a determination to establish the best interests of the child is made;
(3) Allowing the court to direct that costs and allowances of a proceed- ing, including attorney's fees, be payable by an unsuccessful petitioner where the court finds that the contest was brought in bad faith or was frivolous or non-meritorious.
These changes to the law would help ensure that children visit and live only with adults with whom it is their best interest to do so; prevent parents and their children from making unnecessary trips to the court- room, protecting them from the emotional difficulties of testifying about personal and sometimes traumatic family matters; and provide an avenue for families to receive financial compensation if lawsuits brought against them are brought in bad faith.
Legislative history
2019-2020: A1544 2017-2018: A7821
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.