Write Your Legislator!
The following is a sample grandparent visitation law we are proposing. While it still allow grandparents to petition for grandparent visitation, we believe it protects the constitutional right of parents and the children first and foremost. Send this proposed statute to your legislator and ask them to review the current law. Ask them who the current law protects - it was put in place by politicians at the urging of the AARP and therefore it is only natural that it seeks to protect a grandparent's interests above a child's. Demand that Missouri become a family-friendly state and revise the grandparent visitation law in support of the family unit.
1. Possession of and Access to Minor Grandchild.
The court shall only order reasonable access to a minor grandchild by a grandparent if one or more of the
following is true:
A) The child has been abused or neglected by a parent of the child;
B) The child has been adjudicated to be a child in need of supervision or a delinquent child;
C) The child has resided with the petitioning grandparent, without the presence of a fit parent, for at least six consecutive months within the 24-month period preceding the filing of the petition.
2. Limitation on Right to Petition.
A biological or adoptive grandparent may not petition for visitation with a minor grandchild if:
A) The child resides with at least one fit parent who objects to visitation.
B) They are the parent of a parent of the child who has had their parental rights terminated by court order.
C) The custodial parent is the child of the petitioning grandparent
Note: In all petitions put before the court, the court will give deference to the wishes of the fit, custodial parent over any third-party.
While the state of Missouri realizes that there may be many beneficial relationships for a child, it is not for the government to decide with whom the child builds these relationships. Neither the legislature not the courts may properly intervene in parental decision-making, absent significant harm to the minor child whether threatened by or resulting from those decisions.
Besides the constitutional infirmity, there is an inherent problem with utilizing a best interest standard analysis as the basis for government interference in the private lives of the family, rather than requiring a showing of demonstrable harm to the child in that it permits the state to substitute its own views regarding how a child should be raised for those of the parent(s).
Look up your legislator's address, e-mail address, or phone number.