 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Hoff v. Berg6/18/1999
Appeal from the District Court of Burleigh County, South Central Judicial District, the Honorable Benny A. Graff, Judge.
AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART AND REMANDED.
Opinion of the Court by Maring, Justice.
[ ] Jerome and Nicolette Hoff appeal a memorandum decision and an order dismissing their complaint for visitation with their grandchild. We conclude a 1993 amendment to the grandparent visitation statute, N.D.C.C. § 14-09-05.1, is unconstitutional. We affirm in part, reverse in part and remand for further proceedings.
[ ] In 1992, a child was born to Holly Berg and Nathan Hoff, who were not married. Hoffs recognize in their brief that Nathan Hoff was adjudicated the father of the child involved in this case, but has not been formally granted visitation rights. Holly Berg married Dan Berg in 1995. Dissatisfied with the visitation Holly Berg was affording them with their grandchild, Jerome and Nicolette Hoff, the parents of Nathan Hoff, sued Holly Berg under N.D.C.C. § 14-09-05.1 for "implementation of a visitation schedule allowing the enforcement of their visitation rights." The trial court ruled N.D.C.C. § 14-09-05.1 is unconstitutional, and dismissed Hoffs' complaint for grandparental visitation. Jerome and Nicolette Hoff appealed.
[ ] Jerome and Nicolette Hoff contend the trial court erred in ruling the grandparent visitation statute is unconstitutional. Holly Berg contends the grandparent visitation statute unconstitutionally infringes upon the fundamental rights of parents to parent their children.
[ ] Ordinarily, parents with lawful custody of their minor children have the right to determine with whom their children shall associate. Hill v. Newman, 509 S.E.2d 226, 230 (N.C. App. 1998). A child's parents generally have the right to determine if a relationship with the grandparents, or any other person, is contrary to the child's best interests. Matter of Hegemann, 526 N.W.2d 834, 835 (Wis. App. 1994). "Under the common law, parents had the right to select the persons with whom their child would associate, so long as they properly performed their duties to the child," 3 Sandra Morgan Little, Child Custody & Visitation Law and Practice § 16.12 (1999), and grandparents had no legal right to visitation with their grandchildren, King v. King, 828 S.W.2d 630, 632 (Ky. 1992). However, all fifty states have passed grandparent visitation legislation. Castagno v. Castagno, 684 A.2d 1181, 1184 n.3 (Conn. 1996).
[ ] In 1983, the Legislature enacted a statute providing grandparents and great grandparents may be awarded visitation rights to an unmarried minor. 1983 N.D. Sess. Laws ch. 179, § 1 (later codified as N.D.C.C. § 14-09-05.1) provided in part:
"The grandparents and great grandparents of an unmarried minor may be granted reasonable visitation rights to the minor during the period of minority by the district court upon a finding that visitation would be in the best interests of the minor and would not interfere with the parent-child relationship."
Section 14-09-05.1 was amended in 1993 (1993 N.D. Sess. Laws ch. 150, § 1) to provide in part:
"The grandparents of an unmarried minor must be granted reasonable visitation rights . . . to the minor . . . by the district court upon application by the grandparents . . . unless a finding is made that visitation is not in the best interests of the minor. Visitation rights of grandparents to an unmarried minor are presumed to be in the best interests of the minor."
Our current grandparent visitation statute "broadly authorizes the courts to compel visitation with unmarried minor grandchildren for grandparents." Pete
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 North Dakota Employee Leasing Services
Employee Leasing Services
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|