Great Aunt & Uncle Are Not Grandparents for Visitation Rights

Grandparent Visitation Rights in Tennessee

Tennessee child custody case summary on grandparent visitation rights.

In Re Claire C.

The child in this Warrant County, Tennessee, case was born in 2012 to unwed parents.  The father died when the child was about five months old.  In 2018, the paternal great uncle and great aunt filed a petition under the Tennessee grandparent visitation statute.  They alleged that they had a good relationship with the girl for the first five years of her life, and that she stayed at their home on frequent occasions.   In 2017, however, the mother cut off their visitation.  Even though they were not biological grandparents, they alleged that they had played the role of grandparents and that the child viewed them as such.

The trial court, Judge William M. Locke, held that they did not constitute grandparents under the statute.  The aunt and uncle then appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

The court turned to the grandparent visitation statute, and its definition of the word “grandparent.”  The definition used the words “includes, but is not limited to.”  They argued that even though they were not in one of the four listed categories, the fact that they played the role of grandparents would make them fall within the definition.

The court looked at an earlier decision construing an earlier version of the statute. That case weighed the rights of the grandparent against the constitutional rights of the parent, and held that there must not be unwarranted state intervention with the parent’s rights.  It also reviewed other Tennessee cases and a U.S. Supreme Court case on the subject.  The court also noted that some states have a grandparent visitation statute that explicitly includes other persons.  Tennessee, however, did not follow this broad approach.  Instead, the court pointed out, the Tennessee legislature made clear that it was applying its statute to “lineal ancestors.”  The appeals court cited an earlier case holding great grandparents to have standing under the statute.  The appeals court pointed out that the statute must be strictly construed.  Therefore, it held that it did not authorize the aunt and uncle to have standing.  For that reason, it affirmed the lower court’s dismissal.   The court assessed the costs of appeal against the aunt and uncle and remanded the case.

No. M2019-00986-COA-R3-JV (Tenn. Ct. App. Feb. 14,  2020).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

To learn more, see Grandparent Visitation Rights Law in Tennessee.

See also Tennessee Parenting Plans and Child Support Worksheets: Building a Constructive Future for Your Family featuring examples of parenting plans and child support worksheets from real cases available on Amazon.com.