Marriage of Craig v. Craig
253 P.3d 57, 2011 OK 27, 2011 Okla. LEXIS 29 (2011)
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Rule of Law:
Grandparents seeking court-ordered visitation against the wishes of a fit, custodial parent must proceed under the state's grandparent-visitation statute and satisfy its requirements. A non-custodial parent's visitation rights are personal and cannot be transferred to the grandparents to circumvent the statute's mandate that a showing of harm to the child is necessary to compel visitation.
Facts:
- After Tony Craig (Father) and Amanda Evans (Mother) divorced, a court awarded Mother sole custody of their child (Grandchild).
- The divorce decree granted Father visitation that was required to be supervised by his parents, the paternal grandparents (Grandparents).
- Father rarely, if ever, exercised his visitation rights.
- During the times Grandparents had the Grandchild, conflicts arose between them and the Mother regarding their actions, such as taking the child to stay with other relatives without permission and disregarding Mother's wishes about activities like swimming.
- Grandmother lost her temper in front of the child, called the Mother an inappropriate name, and expressed frustration when Mother wanted the child to attend her church rather than the Grandmother's church.
- Feeling the Grandparents were undermining her parental authority, Mother refused to allow further unsupervised visitation.
- Mother offered to allow Grandparents to continue seeing the child in her presence at her home or a park, but Grandparents rejected this offer, wanting time alone with the child.
Procedural Posture:
- In the original divorce proceeding, the trial court awarded sole custody to Amanda Evans (Mother) and supervised visitation to Tony Craig (Father).
- One year after the divorce decree, the paternal Grandparents filed a motion in the divorce case seeking an order granting them the Father's visitation time.
- The trial court held a hearing and granted the Grandparents' motion, finding that the grandparent-visitation statute did not apply and basing its decision on the child's best interests.
- Mother, as appellant, appealed the trial court's order to the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals.
- The Court of Civil Appeals affirmed the trial court's decision.
- Mother, as petitioner, sought a writ of certiorari for the Supreme Court of Oklahoma to review the case.
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Issue:
Can paternal grandparents obtain a court order compelling visitation with their grandchild, against the wishes of the sole custodial parent, by having the non-custodial parent consent to let them use his visitation time, thereby bypassing the requirements of the state's grandparent-visitation statute?
Opinions:
Majority - Edmondson, J.
No. Grandparents cannot obtain court-ordered visitation by substituting themselves for the non-custodial parent; they must satisfy the requirements of the grandparent-visitation statute when visitation is opposed by a fit custodial parent. Grandparents possess no constitutional right to visitation; any such right is purely statutory. A parent's right to visitation stems from the fundamental parent-child relationship and is not an alienable property right that can be transferred to a third party. To use the power of the state to compel visitation against a fit parent's wishes—an infringement on the parent's fundamental right to the care, custody, and control of their child—requires a showing that the child would suffer harm or potential harm without such visitation. The trial court erred by applying a 'free-ranging best-interests-of-the-child standard' without requiring the Grandparents to meet their burden under the statute, which includes proving harm to the child. The court explicitly overruled prior appellate decisions that allowed a grandparent to obtain visitation by exercising the non-custodial parent's visitation time.
Analysis:
This decision significantly reinforces the constitutional protection of a fit parent's autonomy in making decisions for their child. It clarifies that grandparent visitation is not a derivative right stemming from a non-custodial parent, but an independent statutory claim requiring a high burden of proof. By mandating a showing of harm or potential harm to the child, the court sets a clear and demanding standard that shields parental decisions from judicial second-guessing based on a simple 'best interests' analysis. This precedent makes it substantially more difficult for third parties, including grandparents, to obtain court-ordered visitation over a fit parent's objection in Oklahoma.
