In Re Bomgardner
711 P.2d 92 (1986)
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Rule of Law:
A remedial statute granting a right, such as grandparental visitation, will be applied retroactively to claims that arose before its enactment if legislative intent to apply it to existing conditions is express or clearly implied. Furthermore, courts of equity may recognize a grandparent's claim for access to a grandchild independent of any statute.
Facts:
- The maternal grandparents' daughter was married and had a one-year-old child.
- The grandparents' daughter was killed by her husband, the child's father.
- Following the mother's death, the father refused to allow the maternal grandparents to have any access or companionship with the child.
- At the time of the mother's death, the governing statute had been interpreted by courts to not provide for grandparent visitation when only one parent was deceased and the parents were not divorced.
- After the mother's death, the state legislature amended the statute to explicitly grant grandparents the right to seek visitation when one or both parents are deceased.
Procedural Posture:
- The maternal grandparents filed a petition in the district court against the child's father, seeking visitation rights with their grandchild.
- The father filed a demurrer to the petition, arguing it failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted because the law in effect at the time of the mother's death did not authorize their suit.
- The trial court sustained the father's demurrer and rendered judgment for the father.
- The grandparents appealed the trial court's judgment to the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
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Issue:
Does a statute granting grandparents visitation rights when one parent is deceased apply retroactively to a claim that arose before the statute was amended to provide for such a remedy?
Opinions:
Majority - Justice Opala
Yes. The amended statute applies retroactively because the legislature intended for the remedial statute to apply to all existing situations where a child is alienated from their grandparents following a parent's death. The presumption against retroactive application of a statute is overcome when the legislative intent to remedy an existing condition is clear. The court traced the history of the statute's amendments, concluding that the legislature consistently acted to expand grandparental access in response to court decisions that narrowed it, demonstrating a clear intent to make the remedy available in all such circumstances. The father does not have a constitutionally protected 'vested right' in the child's alienation from her grandparents that would prevent the application of the new law. Finally, the court held that independent of the statute, equity recognizes a grandparent's claim for access and companionship based on the best interest of the child.
Dissenting - Chief Justice Simms
No. The right of grandparents to visit their grandchildren exists only by reason of statute, not in equity. The governing statute must be the one in effect at the time the grandparents file their application for visitation. To base the right on the law in effect at the time of a parent's death would create arbitrary classes of grandparents. Because the right is purely statutory, it is not a permanent or equitable right and would disappear entirely if the legislature repealed the statute.
Analysis:
This decision establishes that remedial statutes, particularly in the realm of family law, can be applied retroactively to effectuate clear legislative intent, even without express language stating so. It weakens the position of a party who relies on a previous, more restrictive version of a law, holding that there is no 'vested right' in maintaining a state of affairs that a new law seeks to correct. The ruling prioritizes the 'best interest of the child' and the legislative goal of preserving familial relationships over the default presumption that statutes only operate prospectively. It also significantly bolsters grandparental rights by recognizing an alternative basis for them in equity, independent of any statutory grant.
