• Despite their importance, grandparents are often neglected in custody cases.grandparents with grandchild image by Pavel Losevsky from Fotolia.com
  
  Grandparents are often forgotten in the shuffle when custody disputes erupt between parents. Grandparent custody laws are fairly recent in inception--most statutes have been on the books for less than 35 years.
  
  

Visitation

• Grandparents in Tennessee can be granted visitation rights in only a few circumstances: if the parents of the child are deceased; if the parents of the child are divorced or never married; if one or both parents have been missing for more than six months; if another state has given the grandparents visitation rights; if the child has lived with the grandparents for more than a year; or if the child and grandparents have maintained a significant relationship for more than a year. The court can give visitation rights to the grandparent if the child is in danger if visitation is denied. The court will consider the best interests of the child.
  
  

Prevention of Kidnapping

• Another consideration must be made for the prevention of kidnapping. In 1980, Congress passed the Parental Kidnapping Act, which states that each state must give full faith and credit to the child custody decisions made in other states. In 1998, legislation was passed that includes grandparent visitation and custody orders that were ordered in other states. Tennessee, as well as all other states, has adopted a version of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. This was previously known as the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act. This act requires states to enforce and honor child custody orders from another state, which includes grandparent's visitation. The UCCJEA is not a federal statute, but the act has been adopted throughout the United States in similar forms.
  
  

Constitutionality

• Courts have recently ruled that court decisions providing visitation to grandparents are unconstitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case of Troxel v. Granville that the Washington visitation statute violated the due process rights of parents to raise their children. Similar decisions have been made on cases all across the country. State legislatures have considered bills to modify or completely revise the visitation rights that have been provided in their states. Grandparents in Tennessee should seek out a lawyer who is familiar with child custody and visitation laws before trying to undertake such an emotionally draining and difficult process.