Senate Bill No. 478

(By Senator White)

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[Introduced February 20, 1995; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact sections three and five, article two-b, chapter forty-eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to giving the custodial parent's parents the same visitation rights as the noncustodial parent's parents have.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections three and five, article two-b, chapter forty-eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2B. GRANDPARENT VISITATION.

§48-2B-3. Grandparent visitation upon abandonment or abrogation of visitation rights by parent or judicial preclusion of visitation.

(a) A grandparent may petition a circuit court, which has entered a final order of divorce or annulment or has granted a decree of separate maintenance, for an order granting visitation rights with a minor grandchild where:
(1) The parent through whom the grandparent is related to the minor grandchild is deemed the noncustodial parent of the minor child by virtue of the court's order regarding custody of the minor child;
(2) (1) The parent through whom the grandparent is related to the minor child having been granted visitation rights with the minor child refuses, fails or is unable to avail himself or herself of the right of visitation for a period of six months or more or has been precluded visitation rights by court order or is an active duty member of the armed forces of the United States whose permanent duty station is located more than one hundred miles from the border of this state; and or
(3) (2) The petitioning grandparent has been refused visitation with a minor grandchild by the custodial parent for a period of six months or more.
(b) In determining the appropriateness of granting visitation rights to a grandparent pursuant to this section, the court shall consider the amount of personal contact between the grandparent and minor child prior to the filing of the petition, whether or not the granting of visitation would interfere with the parent-child relationship and the overall effect of such visitation on the minor child's best interest.
§48-2B-5. Grandparent visitation when minor child has resided with grandparent.

(a) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, a grandparent may petition the circuit court of the county in which he or she resides for an order granting said grandparent reasonable visitation rights where:
(1) Said minor grandchild has resided without significant interruption with the grandparent with the parents residing elsewhere for a period of six consecutive months or more; within the past two years
(2) The minor grandchild is subsequently removed from the home by a parent or parents; and
(3) The removing parent or parents have refused to allow the petitioning grandparent visitation with the minor child who formerly resided in the grandparent's home.
(b) If the circuit court determines that the requirements set forth in subsection (a) of this section have been shown, it shall grant such reasonable visitation rights to the petitioning grandparent as may be consistent with the minor child's best interests.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to give the custodial parent's parents the same visitation rights as the noncustodial parent's parents have.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.