Atlanta Divorce Attorney Blog

The Supreme Court of Georgia recently heard an interesting case regarding visitation rights for grandparents whose son’s parental rights had been terminated. Kunz v. Bailey, S11G0867 (2012). In that case, the child’s stepfather adopted the child after the biological father’s rights were terminated. Id. After being denied access to the child, the paternal grandparents (parents of the biological father whose rights were terminated), petitioned for visitation rights with the child. Id. Under Georgia law, a petition for grandparent visitation is not authorized where “the parents of the minor child are not separated and the child is living with both of the parents.” OCGA §19-7-3(b). Therefore, the child’s mother and adoptive father (“Parents”) moved to dismiss the action and, after the motion was denied, filed a direct appeal to the Court of Appeals of Georgia. Id. at 2. The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s denial of the Parents’ motion to dismiss, determining that the term “parent” in the grandparent visitation statute “was not limited to natural parents, but included adoptive parents as well.” Id.

The grandparents then filed a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court of Georgia to determine whether the language of the grandparent visitation statute cited above includes adoptive parents. Id. at 3. The Supreme Court of Georgia held that the statute did include adoptive parents. Any other interpretation would “allow grandparents, by court action, to intrude upon the ‘constitutionally protected interest of parents to raise their children.'” Id. at 4, quoting Brooks v. Parkerson, 265 Ga. 189, 191 (1995). In addition, there was no limiting language in the statute that distinguished between any class of parents. Kunz, at 4.

The Court also agreed that the trial court’s denial of the original motion to dismiss was error. Since the adoptive father was the father of the child at the time the grandparent visitation was filed and the child was living with both parents, there was no basis for an original action for visitation by the grandparents. Id. at 5. Thus, dismissal of the grandparents’ visitation petition “was the proper outcome.” Id.

The Georgia Court of Appeals recently denied paternal grandparent visitation where the biological father had given up his parental rights. In Bailey v. Kunz, the mother was married to and had a child with the biological father. Bailey v. Kunz, A10A1809 (2011). After the biological parents divorced, the mother remarried, the biological father surrendered his parental rights, and the mother’s new husband (“adoptive father” and, with the mother, “parents”) adopted the child. Id. A dispute arose between the parents of the child (the mother and the adoptive father) and the parents of the biological father (“biological grandparents”) over visitation with the child. The parents moved to dismiss the biological grandparents’ petition for visitation “arguing that such a petition was not authorized because [they] were the legal parents and lived together with the child.” Id. After the trial court denied the petition, the parents appealed and the Georgia Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s denial of the motion to dismiss.

The statute governing grandparent visitation states: “Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, any grandparent shall have the right to file an original action for visitation rights to a minor child or to intervene in and seek to obtain visitation rights in any action in which any court in this state shall have before it any question concerning the custody of a minor child, . . . or whenever there has been an adoption in which the adopted child has been adopted by the child's blood relative or by a stepparent, notwithstanding the provisions of Code Section 19-8-19. This subsection shall not authorize an original action where the parents of the minor child are not separated and the child is living with both of the parents.” OCGA §19-7-3(b).

According to the Georgia Court of Appeals, the adoptive father is a “parent” for purposes of the grandparent visitation statute because, in the adoption statute, a “parent” includes the legal father of the child. Id. at 4. It would be inconsistent to treat him as a parent in one statute but not in another. Applying this logic in this case, the parents of the minor child are not separated and the child is living with both parents, making the petition for grandparent visitation unauthorized.

On March 5, 2009, the Georgia Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s grant of a grandmother’s adoption petition in Owen v. Watts (A08A2012), something the appellate courts rarely do. The child had been removed from her home with her mother and grandmother and placed with a foster family. The grandmother then filed a petition to adopt the child and the foster parents, who had previously filed a petition to adopt the child, intervened in that action. The trial court granted the grandmother’s petition to adopt the child and the Court of Appeals reversed, finding that “there was no record evidence that supported a finding that the adoption was in the best interest of the child.” The grandmother’s testimony that she loved the child, had taken her to doctor’s appointments and had an appropriate house for the child to live in was held to be insufficient to meet this standard.

The Court of Appeals acknowledged that reversing the grant of adoption is something that the appellate courts rarely do, but rested its decision on the “plethora of evidence…from which the trial court could have concluded that an adoption by Watts was not in [the child’s] best interest.”

A child may be adopted by the spouse of his/her parent in Georgia regardless of whether the child’s other parent is still living, but there are different requirements for each situation. If the child has only one legal parent still living, the child may be adopted by the spouse of his/her living parent only if that parent consents in writing to the adoption. O.C.G.A. §19-8-6(a)(2). If both of the child’s legal parents are living, but not married to each other, the child may be adopted by the spouse of either parent only if the other parent voluntarily surrenders his/her parental rights in writing and the other parent consents in writing to the adoption. O.C.G.A. §19-8-6(a)(1). In either situation, a child fourteen years of age or older must consent in writing to his or her adoption. O.C.G.A. §19-8-6(b).

If the party whose rights the stepparent seeks to terminate refuses to surrender his/her rights, the Court will hold a hearing to determine whether the adoption is in the best interests of the child. If that parent cannot be found, the stepparent must exercise due diligence to try to locate the parent to provide him/her with sufficient notice under Georgia law. The biological/legal parent must receive adequate notice of the proceedings before the Court will grant the adoption and, in our experience as divorce attorneys in Atlanta, the Courts are very strict on this issue.

Before a stepparent adoption can be finalized, the stepparent must undergo a criminal background check through the Georgia Crime Information Center. The Department of Human Resources, or other representative appointed by the Court, will also become involved to verify the allegations in the Petition for Stepparent Adoption. This representative routinely interviews the stepparent and parent and may even visit the home where the child is living.